Devices and methods for profiling microbiota of skin

摘要

Devices and methods for profiling microbiota of skin are described which include a microbe profiling device including a device head and a hand-held housing, the device head including an epidermis-engaging component and an access window and configured to dislodge microbes from a skin surface, and the hand-held housing defining an opening aligned with the access window, the hand-held housing including a motor operably coupled to a motivatable component, a substrate disposed in relation to the motivatable component and including signal-generating complexes, a location-capture component to detect a location of one or more regions of the skin surface as the epidermis-engaging component contacts said one or more regions, at least one sensor component to detect one or more signals emitted from the signal-generating complexes, and a computing component including circuitry to associate the location of said one or more regions of the skin surface and the detected one or more signals.

主权项

1. A microbe profiling device comprising:
a device head including an epidermis-engaging component and at least one access opening, the epidermis-engaging component configured to dislodge at least one type of microbe from a skin surface of an individual; and a hand-held housing, at least a portion of the hand-held housing defining an opening aligned with the at least one access opening of the device head,
the hand-held housing includinga motor operably coupled to at least one motivatable component, the motor including circuitry to drive the at least one motivatable component;a substrate disposed in relation to the at least one motivatable component and configured to be in operable communication with the opening defined by the hand-held housing, a surface of the substrate including a plurality of signal-generating complexes, at least one of the plurality of signal-generating complexes configured to emit one or more signals in response to contact with the at least one type of microbe dislodged from the skin surface of the individual by the epidermis-engaging component of the device head;a location-capture component including circuitry to determine a location of one or more regions of the skin surface of the individual as the epidermis-engaging component of the device head contacts said one or more regions of the skin surface of the individual;at least one sensor component including circuitry to detect one or more signals emitted from the at least one of the plurality of signal-generating complexes in response to contact with the at least one type of microbe dislodged from the skin surface of the individual and to transform the detected one or more signals into a sensor output; anda computing component including a microprocessor, the computing component including circuitry configured to
receive information associated with the location of said one or more regions of the skin surface of the individual from the location-capture component;receive the sensor output from the at least one sensor component;associate the location of said one or more regions of the skin surface of the individual with the detected one or more signals; andgenerate an output including information regarding an association between the location of said one or more regions of the skin surface of the individual and the detected one or more signals.