Attention Makers

CATEGORY: HEALTHCARE

Alzheimer's Diagnostic Biosensor

MAKERS: Jesslyn Janssen

My project involves engineering a simple nanotechnology biosensor for the measurement of a blood-based alzheimer's biomarker. Alzheimer's disease is the most prevalent form of dementia worldwide, yet the development of therapeutics and treatment options have been held up by the absence of suitable methods to diagnose the disease in its early stages prior to the occurrence of irreversible neuronal damage. I am currently testing my invention as a simple, fast and inexpensive biosensor that has the potential diagnose and give information about the progression of the disease at the early-onset. My invention can detect and measure a protein that is over-expressed in the bloodstream of alzheimer's patients and can act as a finger-prick blood test. I believe this project is very important as a simple and non-invasive diagnostic tool would make it easier to intervene at earlier stages of the disease when treatments may be most effective. An alzheimer's biosensor would also allow doctors to distinguish between alzheimer's and other forms of dementia, avoiding prescribing drugs that are not relevant to the patient's condition. My goal would be for my project to be able to make a difference in many alzheimer's patients lives. With the ability of an early diagnosis and early treatment, I believe that my project will be able to add a few years on an individual's life who is struggling with this disease. I also believe that early alzheimer's diagnostics will eventually lead the way to a cure. I am also confident that my sensor can be applied as a diagnostic method for many other diseases as well, and can be useful to anyone in the world as it is extremely cheap and simple. I believe that information about our health is a basic human right. I hope to make a difference in the area of diagnostics so that all people with diseases and defects can receive treatment and knowledge about their bodies.

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