A painless punch with a microneedle patch could detect kidney disease earlier

Kidney disease often goes unnoticed in its early stages, progressing to advanced stages without any symptoms. Scientists at Washington University in St. Louis, in collaboration with researchers from WashU Medicine and Texas A&M University, have developed a painless microneedle patch that can detect kidney issues earlier. The research led by Srikanth Singamaneni, a professor of mechanical engineering and materials science, shows promising results from the microneedle patch.

The microneedle patch, when applied to the skin, can safely capture and analyze biomarkers, accurately quantifying them. This innovation has the potential to support home or point-of-care monitoring, even without the need for refrigeration. The study published in Advanced Materials is the first to demonstrate that encapsulating biomolecules on microneedles preserves their biological functions.

The researchers created microneedles coated with a metal-organic framework (MOF) capable of sampling interstitial fluid in the skin. These microneedles are coated with a material that forms a shell, which detects and preserves antibodies to neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL). NGAL is an early biomarker of acute kidney injury, and its levels in the blood increase within hours of a kidney injury.

The MOF shell coating successfully preserved the antibodies for up to four weeks at a temperature of 50°C (122°F) without the need for refrigeration. This metal-organic framework encapsulation is a simple and highly effective method to create microneedle sensors that are resilient to environmental challenges, offering a scalable path to minimally invasive biosensing for home or remote health monitoring.