Implementation and validation of a Point-of-Care system for home-testing monitoring of phenylalanine in patients with hyperphenylalaninemia
PKU-Smart-Sensor is the project for the implementation and validation of a Point-of-Care system for home-testing monitoring of phenylalanine in patients with hyperphenylalaninemia. The project aims to create a portable Point-of-Care (PoC) demonstrator for monitoring phenylalanine (Phe) levels in patients with hyperphenylalaninemia and to demonstrate its functionality, robustness and reliability in a real operating environment. An evaluation of the analytical performances with real samples are being carried out by the Regional Hereditary Reference Centre for the Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Metabolic Diseases of Children in Catania. The aim of the project is the realisation not only of the single disposable biosensor containing the sensing components, but of the entire Point-of-Care platform, built with key innovative technologies, characterised by low cost and ease of use, in order to be easily used by the patients in their home environment for the monitoring of plasma Phe levels in real time. The PoC will be supported by an ICT infrastructure that facilitates communication with the doctor or the Hereditary Reference Centre for a correct remodulation of therapy in real time. In particular, apps for Android and iOS will be created for communication between the platform and the sensor connected to the smartphone, and a data collection server with the related web interface is also being created to allow data consultation. Within the project PMF has the role of creating the user-friendly interface for managing and displaying the results of the PoC device and maintaining the historical data on a server.
