DermiSense is developing a patch to sample biomarkers without a blood draw
DermiSense is developing a patch that draws fluid from just beneath the skin, rather than taking a conventional blood sample. The company wants the tiny sample to support selected biomarker tests, with a disposable patch supplying the fluid and a sensor or laboratory instrument analyzing it.
One sample, different possible tests
The target is interstitial fluid, the liquid around cells in tissue. DermiSense's flexible patch uses porous microneedles to draw that fluid from the skin without power for the extraction step.
The company describes two possible routes for analysis: a sensor used on the body, or a collected sample measured with off-body tools. It identifies color-changing tests, lateral-flow assays and electronic sensors as potential companions to the collection platform.
A common sampling approach
If the sampling platform can be paired with different validated tests, one collection approach could serve several testing workflows. That could give a clinic or research organization a reason to consider the same sampling method for more than one application.
From extraction to a usable test
DermiSense says its initial platform extracted human interstitial fluid in a clinical setting and detected chemical changes in fluid collected from trial participants. Extracting a sample is a separate step from demonstrating that a particular diagnostic test works reliably.