Device and method for chemical analysis

Inventors

Taslim, Mohammad E. • Fotouhi, Mohammed • Abedi, Mehdi • Mollaaghababa, Reza • Fotouhi, Bahram • Javaherian, Kashayar • Greenfield, Edward Alvin

Assignees

GrapheneDx Inc

Abstract

A processing and detection system for detecting presence of at least one gluten protein in a food sample comprises a food processor including: a reservoir containing a process liquid for processing the food sample; a body that comprises a chamber configured to receive the food sample; and a pressing surface configured to press on the reservoir to cause the process liquid to exit the reservoir and mix with the food sample, thereby generating a processed food liquid; and an exit port configured to conduct the processed food liquid out of the food processor; and a cartridge including: at least one sensor configured to receive the processed food liquid and to generate an electrical signal in response to interaction with the at least one gluten protein in the processed food liquid, and an analyzer in electrical communication with the at least one sensor for detecting the electrical signal and determining the presence of the at least one gluten protein in the food sample based on the detected electrical signal.

Core Innovation

The invention relates to a processing and detection system for detecting presence of at least one gluten protein in a food sample. The system includes a food processor that processes the food sample with a process liquid stored in a reservoir having a frangible membrane, and a pressing surface that presses on both the food sample in a chamber and the frangible membrane to cause rupture, allowing the process liquid to exit the reservoir and mix with the food sample to generate a processed food liquid.

The processed food liquid is conducted out of the food processor via an exit port into a cartridge that includes at least one sensor configured to receive the processed food liquid. The sensor generates an electrical signal in response to interaction with at least one gluten protein, if any, in the processed food liquid, and comprises a graphene layer or a plurality of carbon nanotubes with a plurality of antibody molecules coupled to the graphene layer or the plurality of carbon nanotubes, where the antibody molecules selectively bind to the at least one gluten protein.

An analyzer in electrical communication with the at least one sensor detects the electrical signal and determines the presence of the at least one gluten protein in the food sample based on the detected electrical signal. In one embodiment, the food processor includes a hinge, a reservoir enclosure, a food chamber, and an arm that rotates between open and closed configurations, with a protrusion that includes the pressing surface and fits into the reservoir enclosure in the closed configuration.

Claims Coverage

The patent includes two independent claims. The coverage is organized around a food-processing architecture that ruptures a frangible process-liquid reservoir using a pressing surface, and a cartridge sensor using graphene or carbon nanotubes with antibody molecules to generate an electrical signal indicative of gluten protein presence for an analyzer.

Overall, the independent claims cover systems that combine a defined food-processing unit that ruptures a frangible process-liquid reservoir using a pressing surface, with a cartridge sensor using antibody molecules coupled to a graphene layer or carbon nanotubes to produce an electrical signal. The analyzer determines presence of at least one gluten protein based on the detected electrical signal, with additional mechanical coverage provided by hinge-mounted rotating arm configurations in one independent claim.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications