The Problem

The current method used for hormonal detection uses monoclonal antibodies. These tests only detect the hormones and the corresponding levels of each hormone at the point in time in which the sample was taken. This limits the amount of information about the condition of the test subject gained by a researcher or diagnostician to that one point in time. The information is stagnant. These tests can be quite costly; researchers will commonly spend $500-$1100 per ELISA plate. Costs increase form this as researchers need sample preparation materials, storage equipment and lab technicians to carry out their research.

Our Solution

BEAR is a low cost, modular device that will allow scientists to detect hormones in real time. This is a simple schematic of our hormone detection device. The sample containing the hormone in question will interact with the hormone-specific detector. This will stimulate a signal which we will be able to identify.

Modular components of BEAR allow for detection of multiple hormones. The hormone-detecting apparatuses are designed to specifically detect a single hormone. These are one-time-use pieces that can be exchanged from the BEAR device in order to detect a different hormone, depending on the researcher’s needs. Eventually, BEAR will have the capacity to use multiple modular components at once, giving a researcher the ability to monitor a collection of hormones simultaneously.

BEAR is different from the monoclonal system because it provides a real-time assay. This will give neuroscientists, medical and livestock agricultural researchers and diagnosticians the ability to observe hormonal changes over a period of time and watch a subject’s internal response to a stimulus. These results are immediate, as opposed to a wait of hours or days for results from monoclonal antibodies.