# Development of a Field-Deployable Device to Rapidly Measure Blood Cyanide Levels

> **NIH NIH R44** · DIAGNOSTIC CONSULTING NETWORK, INC. · 2020 · $1,214,352

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The objective of this proposal is to complete the development and verify the performance of a field-deployable,
fully integrated sensor for the rapid and early diagnosis of cyanide poisoning in whole blood.
Cyanide is an extremely potent and rapid acting poison. It can be inhaled or absorbed across the skin as cyanide
gas or ingested as cyanide salt, and has multiple mechanisms of toxicity. Smoke inhalation containing cyanide
is one of the main causes of cyanide related casualties in residential fires. Antidotes to cyanide poisoning are
currently available, although at a high price. While new and more effective therapeutic agents are in
development, there is no rapid diagnostic test to support emergency personnel and first responders who have a
need to measure cyanide levels in whole blood quickly in order to safely and effectively treat exposed individuals.
Our test is intended to fill that niche.
We propose to complete the development of our prototype sensor into a fully functional and integrated test device
and to verify its performance. We have established and proven the chemistry and functionality of the chemical
sensor and we have integrated the sensor into a microfluidic cartridge that collects a measured amount of blood
from a finger-stick, contains all the reagents and buffers, and houses the cyanide sensor. In our prototype
microfluidic cartridge a fixed amount of a whole blood sample is collected, the red blood cells are lysed, then
passed through the sensor, followed by a manually actuated wash step. In this phase we will first complete the
integration of the cyanide sensor and lysis/wash buffer reagents into the microfluidic cartridge after making
improvements to and optimizing the cartridge to resolve remaining performance challenges. Testing to qualify
and verify the disposable will be done initially with our prototype benchtop reader. In parallel, our main efforts
will focus on the hand-held reader development. After a concept stage, alpha versions of the field-deployable
instrument will be developed and tested with the cartridge to confirm functionality and to identify areas for
improvement. In addition, alpha readers will be evaluated in a usability study with intended users, firefighters
and EMT’s, to evaluate their performance and obtain feedback to improve the design and functionality of the
system. Hardware and software development of our reader are then scheduled to progress to a pre-production
stage and undergo extensive complete system testing prior to the end of this project. The preproduction system
performance, disposable and instrument, will be thoroughly evaluated with samples from cyanide exposed
rabbits and pigs, as animal models, and spiked human blood. Verification studies for this Phase will include the
confirmation of sensitivity/specificity (≥95%), limit of detection (≤20 µM), dynamic range (20-150 µM),
accuracy/reproducibility (≤20% variability), assay time (≤5 minutes), and other studies that...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10004726
- **Project number:** 5R44NS076359-05
- **Recipient organization:** DIAGNOSTIC CONSULTING NETWORK, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** Hans Boehringer
- **Activity code:** R44 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $1,214,352
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2011-09-01 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10004726

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10004726, Development of a Field-Deployable Device to Rapidly Measure Blood Cyanide Levels (5R44NS076359-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10004726. Licensed CC0.

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