Submitted by Fabio Sobreira Campos da Costa (fabio.sobreira@ufpe.br) on 2017-05-04T14:00:33Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) TESE VERSÃO DEFINITIVA COM ARTIGO 2 (1).pdf: 3543569 bytes, checksum: 401f073227f2753f70b28b7a15be070e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-05-04T14:00:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) TESE VERSÃO DEFINITIVA COM ARTIGO 2 (1).pdf: 3543569 bytes, checksum: 401f073227f2753f70b28b7a15be070e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-02 / FACEPE / A infecção pelo vírus da Hepatite B (HBV) é considerada uma enfermidade de alta morbimortalidade, apresentando diagnóstico complexo e quadro de persistência, fatores que dificultam a detecção, terapêutica e cura. Relatos variados têm apontado os imunossensores como importantes ferramentas de auxílio no diagnóstico de doenças, definido como um dispositivo que converte respostas de eventos biológicos a partir da interação antígenoanticorpo em sinal elétrico. No presente estudo foram desenvolvidos biossensores para detecção de anticorpos contra o nucleocapsídeo do HBV (Anti-HBc) mais perene apresentado no diagnóstico da doença. Recentemente, o emprego de nanomateriais no desenvolvimento de tais dispositivos tem despertado interesse devido às propriedades destes materiais. Particularmente, os nanotubos de carbono (NTCs) têm oferecido aos imunossensores melhoria na condutividade, aumento na velocidade de transferência de carga, aumento da área eletródica com maior possibilidade de imobilização de biomoléculas. Nesta tese, foram empregados o ácido hialurônico e o náfion como suporte para forte interação com os NTC funcionalizados em eletrodos de carbono vítreo e de ouro fabricado sobre folha de acetato. Os dispositivos foram caracterizados por técnicas de imagem (microscopia de força atômica) e eletroquímicas (voltametrias de onda quadrada e cíclica), as quais demonstraram a estabilidade da plataforma, imobilização eficaz e sensibilidade. O primeiro protótipo em eletrodos de carbono vítreo modificado com filme de ácido hialurônico associado a nanotubos funcionalizados apresentou resposta linear de 1 a 6ng/ml com limite de detcção de 0,03ng/ml. No segundo protótipo com eletrodos impressos de ouro modificado com filme etanólico de náfion associado a nanotubos funcionalizados, o imunossensor apresentou resposta linear de 0,5 até 2ng/ml, com limite de detecção de 0,15 ng/ml de anti-HBc. Os protótipos desenvolvidos apresentam-se como potenciais para diagóstico da HBV. / Infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) is considered a high mortality disease, with complex diagnosis and persistence framework, factors that hinder detection, therapy and cure. various reports have pointed out the immunosensors as important aid tools in the diagnosis of disease, defined as a device that converts biological events of answers from the electrical signal in antigen-antibody interaction. In the present study biosensors have been developed for the detection of antibodies to the HBV nucleocapsid (anti-HBc) Perennial presented in the diagnosis of disease. Recently, the use of nanomaterials in the development of such devices has aroused interest because of the properties of these materials. Particularly, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have offered immunosensors improvement in conductivity, increased charge transfer speed, increased electrodic area with the highest possibility of immobilization of biomolecules. In this thesis, we employed hyaluronic acid and nafion as support for strong interaction with the NTC functionalized glassy carbon electrodes and manufactured gold on acetate sheet. The devices were characterized by imaging techniques (atomic force microscopy) and electrochemical (cyclic and square wave voltammetry), which demonstrated the platform stability, effective restraint and sensitivity. The first prototype on glassy carbon electrode modified with hyaluronic acid film associated with functionalized nanotubes showed a linear response of 1 to 6ng/ ml with detction limit 0,03ng / ml. In the second prototype printed gold electrodes modified with ethanolic nafion film associated with functionalized nanotubes, the immunosensor showed a linear response of 0.5 to 2 ng / ml, the detection limit of 0.15 ng / ml of anti-HBc. The developed prototype is present as diagnostic potential for HBV.

Soft materials have gained increasing prominence in science and technology over the last few decades. This shift from traditional rigid materials to soft, compliant materials have led to the emergence of a new class of devices which can interact with humans safely, as well as reduce the disparity in mechanical compliance at the interface of soft human tissue and rigid devices.<br><br>One of the largest application of soft materials has been in the field of flexible electronics, especially in wearable sensors. While wearable sensors for physical attributes such as strain, temperature, etc. have been popular, they lack applications and significance from a healthcare perspective. Point-of-care (POC) devices, on the other hand, provide exceptional healthcare value, bringing useful diagnostic tests to the bedside of the patient. POC devices, however, have been developed for only a limited number of health attributes. In this dissertation I propose and demonstrate wireless, wearable POC devices to measure and communicate the level of various analytes in and the properties of multiple biofluids: blood, urine, wound exudate, and sweat.<br><br>Along with sensors, another prominent area of soft materials application has been in actuators and robots which mimic biological systems not only in their action but also in their soft structure and actuation mechanisms. In this dissertation I develop design strategies to improve upon current soft robots by programming the storage of elastic strain energy. This strategy enables us to fabricate soft actuators capable of programmable and low energy consuming, yet high speed motion. Collectively, this dissertation demonstrates the use of soft compliant materials as the foundation for developing new sensors and actuators for human use and interaction.