SBIR Phase II: Water and Food Analysis by Non-Uniform Electroosmotic Flow

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案(公法111-5)资助的。这个小型企业创新研究第二阶段项目将产生一个便携式水质分析仪器的原型。第一阶段SBIR项目旨在展示分离不带电荷聚合物的新技术的可行性；这一目标以惊人的定量精度实现，为第二阶段原型项目奠定了基础。第一阶段的工作是基于随机数学模型和分子动力学模拟，通过这些模拟，拉布拉多研究小组发现了一种分离不带电聚合物的电动方法。随着努力的进展，这种方法作为一种通用分离技术的力量和潜力变得明显，因为我们的商业化方法演变为满足市场对水和食品质量分析技术的需求。这个第二阶段的项目将通过迭代设计改进和验证测试来实现商业原型。第一阶段取得的结果和预期的第二阶段结果将为我们的融资伙伴参与第三阶段的商业活动以及在便携式手持分析仪器中快速部署这种专有芯片技术奠定基础。世界上用于饮用水和农业的“优质”水正在耗尽。与此同时，公共卫生机构没有时间、设备或资源来主动检查我们饮用水、水源或食物中的危险化学物质。最近关于婴儿食品和宠物食品中的三聚氰胺、饮水瓶中的双酚A或地下水中的高氯酸盐的恐慌表明了水和食品系统的脆弱性。典型的分析需要在现场采集样本并将样本运往测试实验室；水监测机构依赖这些外包实验室，在这些实验室中，运输和处理时间可能需要数天才能产生结果，当社区的健康受到威胁时，浪费了宝贵的时间。现有的便携式工具可以测量百万分之几，而危险化合物通常被规定在百万分之几的范围内。以十亿分之一或更好的水平测量各种化合物的手持工具将是分析工具箱中强大、有价值和必要的补充。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project will result in a prototype portable instrument for water quality analysis. The Phase I SBIR project was designed to show the feasibility of a new technique for separating uncharged polymers; this objective was met with remarkable quantitative accuracy, setting the stage for this Phase II prototype project. The underlying Phase I effort was based on stochastic mathematical models and molecular dynamics simulations through which the Labrador Research team discovered an electrokinetic approach for the separation of uncharged polymers. As efforts progressed, the power and potential of this approach as a generic separation technology became evident as our commercialization approach evolved into addressing the market need for water- and food-quality analysis technologies. This Phase II project will lead to a commercial prototype through iterative design improvements coupled with validation testing. The results obtained during Phase I and the anticipated Phase II results will set the stage for Phase III commercial participation by our financing partners and for rapid deployment of this proprietary chip technology in portable, hand-held analytical instruments. The world is running out of "quality" water for drinking and agricultural purposes. At the same time, public health agencies do not have the time, equipment, or resources to proactively check for hazardous chemicals in our drinking water, our water sources, or our food on a routine basis. Recent scares regarding melamine in baby food and pet food, bisphenol A in drinking water bottles, or perchlorate in ground water demonstrate the fragility of the water and food systems. Typical analysis requires collecting a sample in the field and shipping the sample to a test laboratory; water monitoring agencies depend upon these outsourced laboratories where transport and processing time can take days to produce results, wasting precious time when the health of a community is at stake. Existing portable tools can measure a few parts per million, whereas hazardous compounds are often regulated in the part per billion range. Handheld tools that measure a wide array of compounds at a parts-per-billion or better level would be a powerful, valuable, and necessary addition to the analysis toolbox.