University of Cincinnati team develop ‘lab’ devices to aid diagnosis of mental health and other conditions

One device measures cortisol in saliva to provide empirical evidence of stress-related mental health disease while a second could predict future heart attacks

Professor Chong Ahn, from the University of Cincinnati (UC), College of Engineering and Applied Science, has developed a ‘lab-on-a-chip’ device, in collaboration with his students, that can measure cortisol directly from saliva. For physicians being able to know if a patient has raised levels of stress hormones is added useful diagnostic data in addition to mental health questionnaires – especially when patients fail to report anxiety, stress or depression.

Affecting more than 400 million people around the world, mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression are a leading cause of disability with prolonged elevated cortisol levels associated with a variety of mental health disorders.

The UC research team developed its ‘lab-on-a-chip’ system in order to monitor patient cortisol levels. It is a disposable collection device that the patient puts into their mouth after which it is then inserted into a portable analyser and transmits results to a smartphone in minutes. Patients can do the testing themselves and share results with doctors via an app.

“Mental health care can be an urgent situation. And so these tests will help doctors make timely interventions,” Ahn said.

In a related project, Ahn’s study co-author, Supreeth Setty who is a UC doctoral student, has been working on examination of another hormone – dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) – which counteracts the effects of too much cortisol in the body. Their research has shown that high ratios of cortisol to DHEA are indicators of chronic stress which have been linked to both depression and anxiety.

The tests provide clinicians with objective evidence, said Setty, which supplement screening methods such as health questionnaires, adding: “Point-of-care testing is a practical way to make results available quickly for everyone”.

“The next step would be to collaborate with psychiatrists and conduct clinical trials to see if our platform works as expected,” said Setty.

The cortisol and DHEA tests are objective and could indicate if patient’s levels of stress are elevated independently of the patient’s self-awareness of their own health.

[Above] University of Cincinnati doctoral student Heeyong Jang holds up a lab-on-a-chip microfluidic lateral flow assay to measure hormones in a point-of-care device. Credit: Andrew Higley 

The UC team said their technique could be developed to diagnose other health conditions.

They have also examined troponin, a protein that gets released into the bloodstream when patients suffer damage to their heart, following a myocardial infarction. High levels of the protein indicate more damage to the heart muscle. The point-of-care biochemical test can measure troponin from a drop of blood.

“Once you survive a heart attack there is an increased probability of having another heart attack,” Jang said. 

“[It is now possible to] monitor troponin in the blood on a daily basis and hopefully get valuable information [with the] test providing immediate results, which is important when a patient is in need of immediate care.”

For further reading please visit: 10.1007/s10544-025-00733-6