STTR Phase I: Development of Bio-compatible and Bio-safe Cell Sorters

这个小企业技术转让（STTR）第一阶段项目将证明基于微流体的、生物相容的、生物安全的荧光激活细胞分选仪的可行性。细胞分选仪是功能强大的高通量单细胞表征和纯化工具，对于分子生物学、病理学、植物生物学、干细胞生物学和医学诊断等领域的实验室至关重要。尽管它们具有显著的影响，但目前的商业细胞分选仪具有各种缺点。高仪器成本（平均成本：~$500，000）、高维护（维护成本：~$30，000/年;需要训练有素的人员）、显著的生物安全问题以及细胞活力和功能的降低使得常规细胞分选仪在许多应用中效率较低并且抑制其广泛使用。为了解决现有细胞分选仪的局限性，提出了一种创新方法，其特征在于两个关键技术：1）基于“微流体漂移”的细胞聚焦技术;和2）使用啁啾叉指换能器（IDT）的细胞偏转技术。所提出的微流体细胞分选器消除了有害气溶胶的产生，并保持了高细胞活力和功能。如果成功，该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力将是为研究人员和科学家开发最具生物相容性和生物安全性的细胞分选机。根据2011年BCC研究报告，流式细胞仪和细胞分选仪的仪器市场在2010年占14亿美元，预计从2010年到2015年将以9.8%的复合年增长率增长（22亿美元）。 服务可用市场（SAM）估计约为2亿美元。与现有的细胞分选仪相比，所提出的微流体细胞分选仪将具有以下优点：1）高生物相容性; 2）高生物安全性;以及3）低成本和低维护。此外，细胞分选仪将更容易被研究人员使用，并解决市场上现有的未满足的需求（例如，分选脆弱或敏感细胞，同时保持高活力和功能）。它将加速研究成果，改善诊断和治疗。随着公司的发展，这也将创造更多的就业机会。

This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project will demonstrate the feasibility of microfluidic-based, bio-compatible, bio-safe, fluorescence-activated cell sorters. Cell sorters are powerful, high-throughput, single-cell characterization and purification tools that are vital for labs in fields such as molecular biology, pathology, plant biology, stem cell biology, and medical diagnostics. Despite their significant impact, current commercial cell sorters have a variety of drawbacks. High instrument costs (average cost: ~$500,000), high maintenance (maintenance cost: ~$30,000 per year; highly trained personnel needed), significant biosafety concerns, and reduction of cell viability and functionality make conventional cell sorters less effective in many applications and inhibit their widespread use. To address limitations of existing cell sorters, an innovative approach is proposed that features two key technologies: 1) a "microfluidic drifting" based cell-focusing technique; and 2) a cell-deflection technique using chirped interdigitated transducers (IDTs). The proposed microfluidic cell sorter eliminates the generation of hazardous aerosols and preserves high cell viability and functions. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project, if successful, will be the development of the most bio-compatible and bio-safe cell sorters for researchers and scientists. According to a 2011 BCC research report, the instrument market for flow cytometers and cell sorters accounted for $1.4 billion in 2010 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.8% from 2010 to 2015 ($2.2 billion). The served available market (SAM) is estimated to be ~$200 million. Compared with the existing cell sorters, the proposed microfluidic cell sorter will have the following advantages: 1) high bio-compatibility; 2) high bio-safety; and 3) low costs and low maintenance. In addition, the cell sorter will be more accessible to researchers and address existing unmet needs in the market (e.g., sorting fragile or sensitive cells while preserving high viability and functions). It will accelerate research findings and improve diagnostics and therapeutics. It will also create more job opportunities as the company grows.