SBIR-STTR Award

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I (SBIR) project will develop a novel sensing coating that will be deposited on filters for the detection of water-borne contaminants. The initial target will be the oocysts of Cryptosporidium parvum, a water- borne pthogen. C. Parvum was responsible for the outbreak of cryptosporidiosis affecting 400,000 in Milwaukee WI in 1993 and other smaller outbreaks. Cryptosporidiosis is characterized by abdominal pain and severe diarrhea, and can be fatal to immune-compromised individuals. There is currently no easy and reliable test for C. parvum that allows routine monitoring of drinking water supplies. The proposed research will develop a sensing polymer coating, with antibodies and fluorophores incorporated, on a nanoporous membrane. The membrane will be used as filter to simultaneously concentrate and detect C. parvum in water. Binding of C. parvum to the coating will lead to a fluorescent signal. The Phase I research will focus on antibody conjugation to the polymer, fluorophore incorporation, and coating preparation, with the aim of demonstrating the feasibility of the sensing material. In Phase II, the materials will be optimized and incorporated into a detector that will combine filtration and fluorescence detection for monitoring drinking water supplies. The principal commercial application of this project will be for detection of water-borne contaminants in our drinking water supplies, with a potential market comprising of a majority of public water systems in the country.

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II Project proposes to develop a method to detect Cryptosporidium parvum oocyst in water using a novel sensing coating deposited on filters. C. parvum has been responsible for a number of outbreaks of cryptosporidiosis, including the outbreak in Milwaukee in 1993 that affected 400,000 people. Crytosporidiosis is characterized by abdominal pain and severe diarrhea, and can be fatal to immune-compromised individuals. Currently, there is no easy and reliable test allowing the routine monitoring of drinking water supplies for C. parvum. The approved EPA method for this purpose is slow, expensive, and requires interpretation by highly trained personnel. The innovation inherent in the proposed pathogen detection platform resides in a unique "smart" polymer filter coating that permits pathogen concentration, detection, and signal generation in a single step. The signal is generated from interactions between the target and specific antibodies, resulting in a fluorescent signal. Prior Phase I work has already demonstrated the effectiveness of this approach. The proposed Phase II effort will focus on the optimization of the filter coating and the development of the accompanying hardware and testing protocol needed for commercialization and EPA approval of a complete water-testing product. The commercial application of this project is in the market for detection of pathogens in drinking water supplies. The testing market for C. parvum, the specific pathogen targeted in this Phase II project, is estimated to be $75 million in the U.S. and $ 100 million worldwide. It is expected that further adaptations of the pathogen detection technology proposed in this project will have added applications in the markets for the testing of foods and beverages, and in medical diagnostics