Development of fast and efficient technologies for the diagnosis of critical biomarkers related to biochemical processes, nutrition and the environment

• Grant number: 22/10546-0
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Innovative Research in Small Business - PIPE
• Duration: April 01, 2023 - March 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Collective Health - Preventive Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Mariana Zuccherato Bocato Kimachi
• Grantee: Mariana Zuccherato Bocato Kimachi
• Host Company: Reload Health Devices Ltda
• CNAE: Pesquisa e desenvolvimento experimental em ciências físicas e naturais ; Atividades de atenção à saúde humana não especificadas anteriormente
• City: Ribeirão Preto
• Associated researchers: Reverson Fernandes Quero
• Associated research grant: 20/05839-2 - Development of fast and efficient technologies for the diagnosis of critical biomarkers related to biochemical processes, nutrition and the environment aiming at a healthy lifestyle, AP.PIPE
• Associated scholarship(s): 23/05017-0 - Development of fast and efficient technologies for the diagnosis of critical biomarkers related to biochemical processes, nutrition and the environment, BP.PIPE

Abstract

Functional medicine is a rapidly growing field of medicine focused on preventing chronic disease, finding the root cause of health imbalances, and tracking/optimizing physiological processes. Functional medicine is mainly based on complex and still expensive laboratory tests, it also relies on highly specialized human resources. Due to the growing awareness of the root cause of diseases, the demand for early diagnosis and prevention of diseases is increasing and consequently increasing the market for functional medicine laboratory tests. In most cases, medical insurance does not cover functional medicine laboratory tests, leading the patient to purchase them at his own expense. The deficiency of multiresidual analytical methods and the available human resources (which raise the costs of routine exams) become the major obstacle to the growth of the current market. In this sense, Reload Health SAS (France) and its subsidiary (Reload Health Devices Ltda) have been focusing on the development of fast and efficient multiresidue biochemical metabolomics methods to be able to provide easy and home-use tests (through the development of our polymer "Ouro Health ", financed by the FAPESP PIPE 1 project, process 2020/05839-2) with reduced costs for the Brazilian and world market. Reload Health has also been focusing for the last 3 years on streamlining the entire process, working on each element of the value chain. Through its subsidiary Reload Health Softwares Ltd, it has developed comprehensive web interfaces to collect user health data, leveraging Artificial Intelligence algorithms to simplify the process (NLP, computer vision; assessment.reload.co) as well as data processing algorithms. To automate the interpretation. In PIPE 1, we have already achieved great success in the prototypes of microsampling devices developed by 3D printing, and we have already been able to evaluate the capacity of these devices intwoextract with property several urinary metabolites (63 organic acids of the 73 available in the method). The best configuration (best parameters obtained) for the microsampling polymer (height of the layers, diameter, extrusion width, extruder temperature, printing speed and geometry) has already been observed, which was able to obtain the best volume of dry urine, some Basic filaments on the market have also been evaluated for their composition. However, for the urinary microsampling device to become not only the best on the market, but the only one capable of reproducibly and safely extracting a wide range of endogenous and exogenous metabolites in human urine, we need resources to continue the search for the best filament. Polymer as possible for this purpose, which increase their extractive capacity by polarity affinity or desorption processes. In addition, we also need to develop faster and cheaper multiresidue methods for the quantification of the hundreds of compounds that we want to screen and provide the quantitative responses as a product in the acquisition of Reload Health Devices kits (already explained in more detail in Project 1) and we will need to increase the production capacity of microsampling polymers, requiring the acquisition of more 3D printers. In this way, the FAPESP aid required in PIPE 2 will cover the purchase of various materials, standards and payment for analyzes and human resources so that "Ouro Health" is finalized, produced on a large scale and launched (as a Reload kit) in the Brazilian market. . We also believe that, due to the analytical capacity of the prototypes already developed, our microsampling polymer may have wide acceptance in the market, being able to be marketed to clinical, toxicological, academic research laboratories, hospitals and also environmental laboratories. (AU)