In One Hour, For Less Than a Buck, A Sensor Made of Jell-O and Foil Detects Acute Pancreatitis

Brian Zaccheo, a grad student at UT, developed a very cost efficient and effective method for detecting acute pancreatitis with just everyday materials that can be found at a local grocery store.

Acute pancreatitis is a sudden inflammation of the pancreas that can lead to multiple complications, is often very painful, and can even be fatal. However, the clinical diagnosis of this condition is difficult to make and the result is frequent misdiagnoses. Presently, the serum tests for acute pancreatitis use amylase (the pancreatic enzyme responsible for carbohydrate digestion) or lipase (an enzyme that assists in the digestion of fat) levels as indicators of whether or not a person has the condition. The most commonly used of these two tests, the amylase test, while inexpensive and quick, lacks sensitivity and specificity. The lipase test is slightly more sensitive and specific than the former, but likewise, it is not the most effective way of detection that could be applied for diagnosis. In actuality, trypsin (an enzyme that digest proteins) levels are considered to be the most accurate serum indicator of acute pancreatitis. The only issue that currently exists is the lack of serum trypsin assays available for use. Zaccheo’s design therefore may be the technique that doctors have been waiting for. He has found the ideal solution for this problem by creating an original device out of aluminum foil, gelatin, milk protein, and a cheap LED that successfully tests for elevated trypsin levels (as occurs in acute pancreatitis) in just one hour’s time.

The way it works is a bit of the patient’s blood is placed on a layer of gelatin and milk protein. When elevated levels of trypsin are present in the blood, the blood eats through this layer. Following this step, sodium hydroxide is added on top of the gelatin-protein layer. If in fact the blood has eaten through the layer, the sodium hydroxide comes in contact with the layer of foil below and begins to eat at it as well until the foil dissolves completely. With both layers now dissolved, a circuit is able to form between the iron salt cathode and magnesium anode of the device. If this circuit is formed and the LED subsequently lights up within an hour of doing the test, the patient has acute pancreatitits.

Other additional benefits of the design include its small size and that it requires no external electricity source.

This article really appealed to me because I’ve always been fond of ingenuous and needed designs created from small means. I also like that the inventor was a grad student. While the article doesn’t specify the grad student’s age, I still like that he’s a student taking his acquired knowledge and applying it to create an innovative concept that has been kind of neglected by the industry.

Link to article: http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-04/less-buck-sensor-made-jell-o-and-foil-detects-acute-pancreatitis-one-hour