Defence of doctoral thesis in the field of Electronics Integration and Reliability, M.Sc.(Tech.) Elsi Verrinder

M.Sc.(Tech.) Elsi Verrinder will defend the thesis "Carbon-based hybrid nanomaterials for electrochemical detection of opioids" on 7 May 2021 at 12 in Aalto University School of Electrical Engineering, Department of Electrical Engineering and Automation.

Opponent: Prof. Frank Marken, University of Bath, United Kingdom
Supervisor: Prof. Tomi Laurila, Aalto University School of Electrical Engineering, Department of Electrical Engineering and Automation

The public defense will be organized via remote technology. Follow defence:
https://aalto.zoom.us/j/61708911265
Zoom Quick Guide: https://www.aalto.fi/en/services/zoom-quick-guide

Public display of thesis available online at: https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/doc_public/eonly/riiputus/

Doctoral theses in the School of Electrical Engineering: https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/53

Press release:

Overuse of opioids has resulted in a worldwide health crisis recognized by doctors and health organizations around the globe. In recent decades, the use of opioids has grown exponentially, resulting in an increasing number of overdose incidents and other adverse effects. In 2016, approximately 86 000 deaths were estimated to be caused by opioid overdose worldwide.

Opioids are strong painkillers used for treatment of moderate to severe pain in clinical patient care. Unfortunately, opioids are also highly addictive and if not properly administered and monitored, can lead to overdose and death. A fast and simple means to monitor blood levels of opioids would enable personalized dosing and rapid diagnosis of overdose. However, there are currently no tools to determine opioid concentrations in blood quickly and accurately at the patient’s bedside.

In this work, we developed carbon nanomaterial-based electrochemical sensors for detection of opioids in plasma and blood samples. We combined the advantageous properties of carbon nanomaterials and thin polymer films to fabricate disposable test strips for fast and simple determination of opioid levels. The sensors were able to detect clinically relevant concentrations of several opioids in buffer solution and lightly diluted human plasma without any additional sample treatments. Finally, we succeeded in detecting small concentrations of morphine in completely untreated and undiluted whole blood finger prick samples. In the future, these test strips could enable individualized pain treatment and promote accurate and safe dosing of opioids in clinical patient care.

Contact information of doctoral candidate: