Team:Queens Canada/Hardware
Hardware
Overview
Saliva contains a wealth of information about one’s health. In the doctor’s office, saliva samples are readily taken to screen for disease as well as measure hormone and other bioactive molecule presence. This year, team Queen’s Canada has developed a diagnostic pacifier with the ability to passively collect saliva, measure analytes present, and wirelessly transmit this data. The pacifier works by passively collecting saliva from the user's mouth into the pacifier’s internal compartment through a channel in the nipple. An off-board system could collect the saliva and mix it with the FRET biosensor, then its composition could be probed with a fluorometer, or confocal microscope. The onboard sytem would contain contain an immobilized protein biosensor. Once enough saliva has accumulated within the well type container, the proteins would react and produce a luminescent signal corresponding to analyte concentration. This luminescence would be detected by the built-in luminometer located directly behind the well which would transfer the information to the user device. Some of our considerations and investigations during our design process are summarized below.
Pacifier
Luminometer
Thermistor
Below are photos of the finished pacifier, with the luminometer installed within in.
