Projektbeschreibung
Bestimmung des Fruchtbarkeitsfensters durch Hormonquantifizierung in weiblichen Speichelproben
Ein entscheidender Schritt, um Unfruchtbarkeit oder Erkrankungen im Zusammenhang mit hormonellem Ungleichgewicht frühzeitig feststellen zu können, besteht in der Quantifizierung und Kontrolle von vier bestimmten weiblichen Hormonen. Die gegenwärtig kommerziell erhältlichen Tests messen allerdings nur ein bis zwei dieser vier Schlüsselhormone. Das EU-finanzierte Projekt Umay4women entwickelt derzeit eine zuverlässige Methode, die anhand von Speichelproben alle am Ovarialzyklus beteiligten Hormone quantifizieren kann, um das Fruchtbarkeitsfenster mit Genauigkeit zu bestimmen. Diese Sensorstrategie basiert auf einem neuen photoelektrochemischen Ansatz. Die Technologie hat das Potenzial, auf eine Vielzahl von Anwendungen ausgeweitet zu werden, wie etwa die Fruchtbarkeitsüberwachung in der Tierzucht oder die Patientenüberwachung im Rahmen der Gesundheitsversorgung.
Ziel
Recent data estimate that approximately 8 – 10 % of couples are facing fertility problems which means more than 50 million people worldwide are struggling to get pregnant. One of the main reasons couples have difficulty conceiving is their inability to accurately predict the female’s ovulation period. Indeed, the quantification and monitoring of four specific female hormones is crucial for early identification of infertility and tracing of diseases associated with hormonal disbalances (e.g. ovarian cancer). In comparison with costly and complex conventional methods and commercially available test that only measure one or two of the four key hormones, Umay4women (Umay) proposes, for the first time, a unique and reliable quantification of all hormones involved in the ovulatory cycle to accurately determine the ‘fertility window’ by using non-invasive saliva samples. The novelty of this project relies on the combination of nanomaterials, photosensitizers, paper-based microfluidics and immunoassay disciplines to develop a multiarray biosensor, overcoming the drawbacks of current techniques and sampling methods. Importantly, the sensing strategy is based on a novel photoelectrochemical approach which uses the light to trigger the electrochemical response, thus eliminating potential interferences and empowering the readout. Although initially focused on fertility monitoring in women, the underlying technologies have the potential to be further extended after this fellowship for a wider range of applications and final users (e.g. monitoring of fertility in animal industry or tracing the evolution of patients after ovarian cancer treatment) to develop reliable, low-cost, multiarray platforms for healthcare applications. From the clinical perspective, Umay will facilitate the direct and rapid quantification of the key fertility hormones which will lead to faster and private decision-making processes toward an enhancement of the fertility management of each women.
Wissenschaftliches Gebiet
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesclassical mechanicsfluid mechanicsmicrofluidics
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensorsbiosensors
- social sciencessociologydemographyfertility
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicineoncology
- engineering and technologynanotechnologynano-materials
Schlüsselbegriffe
Programm/Programme
Thema/Themen
Aufforderung zur Vorschlagseinreichung
Andere Projekte für diesen Aufruf anzeigenFinanzierungsplan
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Koordinator
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Belgien