Team:Concordia-Montreal/Future-Plans
Contents:
1. Overview
2. Electronic Device
3. Mobile Application
1. Overview
Although the 2019 iGEM competition ended, it does not mean that this project has ended as well. Our work for this year's competition is but the first iteration of the project. In the future, there are multiple directions through which the project can be continued. First, we will need extensive testing of our system to optimize and determine the different levels of detection as well as increase its precision and accuracy. We will need to determine the sources of noise and filter it or develop strong error correction capabilities. Second, it is necessary to make our system a cell free system which can function properly in a hydrogel system of our design. This step will enable the system to be integrated safely into a patch. Third, since we did not get access to fentanyl due to restrictions on its distribution, the next logical step in our project will be to test the system with fentanyl and characterize the system.
Since the biosensor is designed to be modular, future iterations of the project can involve the detection of a variety of small molecules using the same, or an improved, mechanism developed in this project. Hence, the backbone of this project can be used by multiple generations of iGEM students to develop a great variety of new biosensors.
2. Electronic Device
The electronic device subsystem enables the user to monitor fentanyl level in their sweat in real-time and automatically. However, the design and implementation of the electronic device will always have room for improvements.
First, the next major improvement to the electronic device subsystem is the implementation of a charging system. This system will enable the electronic device to be more user-friendly and less costly to the user. The charging system will be located on the second layer of the top board since the first layer of the top board is already quite crowded. It will be comprised of a battery charging unit and of a battery protection unit. The charging system will also work through induction which means that no external connector is required. A compatible wireless charger will therefore need to be designed and manufactured.
Second, following extensive integration testing, improvements might be brought to the amperometric unit in the sensor module to use reduce noise levels and increase accuracy. To reduce noise level, low-pass filter circuits can be added. To increase accuracy, the analog-to-digital converter may be upgraded to a higher resolution. Third, improvements to the software of the microcontroller will be constantly added. These improvements will aim to increase user privacy and data protection, to optimize for power consumption, to increase system efficiency and to create support for additional sensors.
Fourth, the microcontroller is currently a commercial-off-the-shelf module. However, such a module comes at a greater cost than if the module circuit were to be built in-house. Therefore, in the future, the microcontroller circuit may be implemented in-house to lower costs for the user. Unfortunately, such an enterprise is a very challenging one as the microcontroller circuit will require expertise in antenna design, oscillator circuits, impedance matching and filter design.
Fifth, additional sensors can be added to the electronic device. Among these sensors are inertial measurement units, global positioning system, light sensors and contact sensors. The inertial measurement units (IMU) are the likes of accelerometers, gyroscopes and magnetometers or a combination of these. The IMU can be used to determine a fall, erratic movements or tremors. This data can be used to predict overdoses using machine learning, determine symptoms caused by an overdose and help medical personnel diagnose and propose treatment faster. A global positioning system (GPS) will allow broadcasting of the user location in case of emergency to allow faster response time from first responders. Such a system will only be active if an emergency is detected or requested. The light sensors include optical light-emitting diode (LED) sensors, infrared sensors and other sensors which collect data from a light source. Optical LED sensors will be useful to track the user’s heart rate and along with the data from the other sensors determine the likelihood of an overdose. Infrared sensors can be used to monitor the user’s heat signature which can help indicate an overdose. The contact sensors will be used to indicate if the user is wearing the electronic device and the patch. This indication will be quite important in the activation and deactivation of the electronic device which will help extend the battery life of the electronic device by keeping the power consumption in a deep sleep mode when unused and activating the device when the user wears the electronic device.
Sixth, since the data from the biosensor patch is only accessible through the mobile application, if the mobile phone runs out of battery at a critical moment, there needs to be a way to still provide assistance to the user or at least notify them. Therefore, light-emitting diode indicators will be implemented and will be activated if the connection is lost with the mobile phone. Additionally, a vibration feature can be implemented on the electronic device which vibrates at different intensities depending on the seriousness of the situation.
3. Mobile Application
The mobile application subsystem provides the user with an interface to monitor in real-time the fentanyl level in their sweat as well as contacting emergency services, informing themselves on protection and prevention, and finding nearby help centers. However, the design and implementation of the mobile application will always have room for improvements.
First, the image analysis and patch recognition algorithms can be improved. The current method of analyzing a single pixel at a time can take a few seconds for a one million pixels image. As phone cameras improve, the number of pixels per picture will increase which can lead to potentially minutes long analysis time. Therefore, the algorithms will need to be redesigned to reduce computational time.
Second, the Bluetooth socket subfeature should be improved to accommodate two-way communication between the electronic device subsystem and the mobile application subsystem. A two-way communication will allow the mobile application to send commands to the electronic device. This two-way channel will enable constant testing of connection stability.
Third, a Settings feature will be implemented in the mobile application. This Settings feature will allow the user to send feedback to the developers, change language and many other potential subfeatures.
Fourth, to transform the current project into a product, we need to ensure user safety and data security. Therefore, we will require the help of a cybersecurity expert to protect the data. We will also need to perform additional testing to reduce the probability of false negatives to less than 10e-9. Additional redundant measures will also be added.