Description du projet
Quantifier les hormones dans des échantillons de salive pour déterminer la fenêtre de fertilité des femmes
La quantification et le suivi de quatre hormones féminines spécifiques sont essentiels pour permettre une identification précoce de l’infertilité ou des maladies associées à des déséquilibres hormonaux. Cependant, les tests disponibles dans le commerce ne mesurent les taux que d’une ou deux de ces quatre hormones clés. Le projet Umay4women, financé par l’UE, travaille au développement d’une méthode de quantification fiable de toutes les hormones impliquées dans le cycle ovulatoire, méthode qui s’appuie sur des échantillons de salive pour déterminer avec précision la fenêtre de fertilité. Sa stratégie de détection repose sur une nouvelle approche photoélectrochimique. Cette technologie a par ailleurs le potentiel d’être étendue à une plus large gamme d’applications, y compris la surveillance de la fertilité dans l’industrie animale ou celle des patients dans les applications de soins de santé.
Objectif
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.
Champ scientifique
- 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
Mots‑clés
Programme(s)
Régime de financement
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinateur
2000 Antwerpen
Belgique