# Bio-electrochemical detectors for in vivo continuous monitoring

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA · 2020 · $541,961

## Abstract

Summary. Our goal is the development and validation of a technology that can measure a wide range of drugs,
metabolites, and biomarkers in the blood, urine, and interstitial fluids of living subjects continuously and in real
time, an ability that would revolutionize many aspects of biomedical research and healthcare. To achieve this
goal we will combine electrochemical aptamer-based sensors (which are reagentless and wash-free and can
operate directly in complex samples without fouling) with biocompatible anti-coagulation membranes and
advanced drift correction methods to achieve continuous, real-time, multi-day measurements directly in vivo.
As preliminary results supporting this goal we demonstrate the continuous, real-time measurement of four
different drugs directly in the jugulars of anesthetized rats for periods of more than five hours with 20-second
time resolution and sub-micromolar precision. Leveraging these initial results we propose here three further
advancements: First, we will expand the platform to the in vivo measurement of nine additional drugs and
metabolites, which will demonstrate the platform's versatility. Second, we will improve the platform's stability
such that we can perform high-precision in vivo measurements over the course of days, which will enable
continuous measurements of long-lived drugs and capture clinically important circadian metabolic variations.
Finally, we will expand the platform to the simultaneous measurement of multiple molecules and/or across
multiple body compartments (e.g., blood, tissues, brain, bladder), rendering it a powerful new tool for
understanding pharmacokinetics and physiology. By creating an unprecedented window into a patient's
molecular-level physiological state, the proposed technology would enable many transformative clinical
applications, including the high-precision measurement of patient-specific pharmacokinetics, the continuous
monitoring of health status via the real-time measurement of specific biomarkers, and, ultimately, feedback-
controlled drug delivery.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9962901
- **Project number:** 5R01EB022015-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA
- **Principal Investigator:** Kevin W Plaxco
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $541,961
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-01 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9962901

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9962901, Bio-electrochemical detectors for in vivo continuous monitoring (5R01EB022015-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9962901. Licensed CC0.

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