IDR: ECCS - EPDT: Ultra high-throughput holographic on-chip cytometry using inertial micro-fluidics

0930501OzcanFlow细胞术是现代细胞生物学和临床诊断学的主力军，但存在三个显著的缺点：(I)有限的吞吐量；(Ii)高成本；以及(Iii)在保持其吞吐量的同时实现小型化的挑战。解决这些限制可能会增加细胞仪的可用性和应用领域，极大地改变生物医学研究和临床分析。在这项提案中，为了解决细胞分析平台的现有局限性，目的是(1)将惯性微流控聚焦与芯片上全息成像平台相结合；(2)测试这一集成系统的性能，以进行具有白细胞差异的完整血细胞计数。由于其紧凑且经济实惠的设计，没有鞘液体或透镜，再加上其超大的吞吐量和独特的全息信息内容，拟议中的芯片上细胞仪平台将对干细胞、免疫学和癌症相关研究以及临床诊断产生革命性影响，特别是在资源有限或护理点的环境中。这项提议还将建立一个补充的教育推广计划，将涉及加利福尼亚州圣费尔南多山谷一个以贫困和社会经济影响为主的社区的高中生。暑期研究项目、研讨会和开放参观将为高中生提供与尖端研究环境互动的机会，有助于增加他们的科学好奇心，并塑造他们在科学和工程领域的职业目标。此外，在这项提案的时间表内，为了更好地促进加州大学洛杉矶分校未被充分代表的工程专业学生的发展、招聘、留住和毕业，将创造几个本科生研究机会，以补充国际工程学院在这方面的现有活动。最后，将开发一门新的研究生水平课程，题为“芯片光子学实验室”，旨在将工程教育的“知识”和“设计”方面整合到一门课程中。

"This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)."0930501OzcanFlow cytometry is a workhorse of modern cell biology and clinical diagnostics, but suffers from three significant downsides: (i) limited throughput; (ii) high cost; and (iii) challenges towards miniaturization while still keeping its throughput. Addressing these limitations is likely to increase the availability and application areas of cytometers, significantly transforming biomedical research and clinical analysis. In this proposal, to address the existing limitations of cell analysis platforms, the aim is to (1) Integrate inertial microfluidic focusing with an on-chip holographic imaging platform; and (2) Test the performance of this integrated system for conducting complete blood counts with white blood cell differentials. Given its compact and cost-effective design without sheath fluids or lenses, together with its ultra-large throughput, and unique holographic information content, the proposed on-chip cytometry platform is poised to have a transformative impact for stem cell, immunology & cancer related research, as well as clinical diagnostics especially in resource limited or point-of-care settings.This proposal will also establish a complementary educational outreach program which will involve high school students from a predominantly underprivileged and socio-economically impacted neighborhood of San Fernando Valley, CA. Summer research projects, seminars and open house visits will serve the high school students to interact with a cutting edge research environment, helping to increase their scientific curiosity and shaping their career goals in science and engineering. Furthermore, during the timeline of this proposal, to better contribute to the development, recruitment, retention, and graduation of underrepresented engineering students on UCLA campus, several undergraduate research opportunities will be created to supplement the existing activities of the PI's in this regard. Finally, a new graduate level course titled "Lab-on-a-Chip Photonics"; will be developed, which aims to integrate "knowledge"; and "design"; aspects of engineering education into a single course.