Million-dollar grant powers better at-home prenatal health care

A lack of ways to monitor health at home can leave expecting mothers feeling helpless — especially if complications arise. A particularly dangerous complication is a pregnancy-specific high blood pressure disorder called preeclampsia. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, preeclampsia causes over 70,000 maternal deaths and 500,000 fetal deaths worldwide each year. Preeclampsia is an especially pressing concern in low-to-middle income countries, where rates are significantly higher, according to the World Health Organization.

Dr. Hatice Ceylan Koydemir is leading an international team of researchers to create a point-of-care, at-home device for early preeclampsia detection, with an emphasis on accessibility in low-resource settings where current monitoring options are limited. The research is funded by the Gates Foundation’s Global Grand Challenges initiative, which awards grants to the most promising proposals focused on urgent priorities in global health and development. 

“I think about how advanced technologies have become, but for women’s health, we don’t have the same technology to monitor ourselves,” said Koydemir, assistant professor in Texas A&M University’s biomedical engineering department. “I thought that if we could use similar ideas from the sensor field and microelectronics, why not apply them to women’s needs and make it accessible?”

When clinicians identify preeclampsia, rapid medical management and close monitoring are critical. Current methods of diagnosis can be extensive and require blood tests or urine analysis beyond the initial confirmation of high blood pressure. These tests are all conducted in a doctor’s office around 28 to 30 weeks into the pregnancy, which can be a barrier for women in low-resource or remote settings. 

“If the mother has hypertension, protein in their urine, or other markers, they are considered at risk for this disorder and are managed more closely by medical doctors,” said Dr. Sandun Fernando, co-investigator and professor in the biological and agricultural engineering department. “Sometimes, they may have to deliver the baby earlier than expected.”

The researchers aim to provide a solution that detects the proteins found in preeclampsia earlier in the pregnancy with the simplicity and turnaround time of a finger-prick blood sugar monitor.

“The goal is for mothers to test weekly at home with a finger prick, report results to their medical doctor and monitor themselves,” Koydemir said. “We want to quantify these proteins earlier so you can have more control and treatment options.”

The team is working to complete the project in an accelerated timeframe to maximize the device’s impact. Koydemir and her lab are creating handheld platforms and sensors, while Fernando’s group is working to create synthetic DNA strands designed to bind to the specific target proteins associated with preeclampsia to ensure accurate detection. The groups are also working with Dr. Levent Beker and Dr. Ebru Celik from Koç University in Turkey. 

Beyond preeclampsia, Koydemir and Fernando hope that the science conducted for this project could also be adapted for other health challenges, like cancer detection.

“We do a lot of research, but only sometimes what we do has a direct impact on people,” Koydemir said. “This is something that, within a few years, will hopefully make an impact not only in developed countries, but specifically in developing countries.”