# Development of an integrated smartphone/resistive nanosensor for onsite biomonitoring of exposure to pesticides

> **NIH NIH R41** · NANODIAGNOSTIC TECHNOLOGY, LLC · 2021 · $255,880

## Abstract

Project Summary
Organophosphate (OP) pesticides poisoning is a major environmental and occupational health problem worldwide
due to its acute or chronic toxicity. Rapid and accurate detection of personal exposure to OP pesticides is
critical to both research and clinical care for victims. However, this detection remains highly variable across
commercially available assays, e.g., the Ellman method, and such assays may also not adequately detect low
but clinically relevant levels of exposure biomarkers. Moreover, these assays are generally performed in the
centralized laboratories, and is slow and expensive. These deficits translate into missed opportunities for the
timely initiation of the most appropriate treatment and interventions for acutely or chronically poisoned victims.
A simple, rapid, non- or minimally invasive biomonitoring tool for onsite sensitive and accurate detection of
personal exposure to OP pesticides is highly desirable and fits the interest of NIEHS exposure program. This
STTR phase I project is to develop an innovative integrated smartphone/nanosensor platform for onsite rapid and
sensitive detection of OP exposure using a tiny drop of finger-stick blood. This nanosensor will take advantage of
nanotechnology and wireless technology and utilize an important biomarker, blood cholinesterase, for the detection
of personal OP exposure and the resulted tool has the potential to serve as mHealth for environmental and
occupational workers. The research will determine the detection limit, sensitivity, dynamic range, and other key
performance metrics of the sensing platform using blood samples in vitro dosed with typical pesticides and
validate the platform in field using finger-stick blood samples from farmworkers, and demonstrate the feasibility
of the platform for sensitive and accurate detection of exposure to OP pesticides. The resulted nanosensor
would be a simple, rapid, cost-effective, and minimally-invasive, point-of-care biomonitoring tool for accurate
personal exposure assessment and for on-site rapid detection of exposure to OP pesticides. Thus, this novel
sensing platform could serve as a personal meter for self-test just like a glucose meter and could also be used in
field, physician's office, bedside, and emergency room.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10255622
- **Project number:** 1R41ES032388-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** NANODIAGNOSTIC TECHNOLOGY, LLC
- **Principal Investigator:** Jun Wang
- **Activity code:** R41 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $255,880
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-06-01 → 2022-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10255622

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10255622, Development of an integrated smartphone/resistive nanosensor for onsite biomonitoring of exposure to pesticides (1R41ES032388-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-01 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10255622. Licensed CC0.

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