PFI:AIR - TT: Blood Typing Device without Reagents: Sensing Electrodes to Replace Optics

这个PFI: AIR技术翻译项目的重点是翻译电动芯片实验室血型技术，以满足献血点和救灾情况下对快速血型的需求。该项目将产生一种概念验证型血型微型设备，可以在没有显微镜的情况下同时检测细胞特征。该血型微型装置具有以下独特的特点：便携性、ABO-Rh血型快速鉴定、无需试剂、可同时测定红细胞压积、血容量小。这些特点提供了以下优势：节省时间和成本，提高效率，更长的保质期，和更好的可靠性相比，纸质血液凝集试剂盒，在这个市场领域的主要竞争对手。虽然大多数电动/微流体设备适合手持式显微镜载玻片，但操作该设备的配套基础设施包括相当大的成本和空间占用。该项目通过开发传感电极来取代光学显微镜来解决这一技术差距。在微设备中记录红细胞反应的作用，促进了从研究发现向用户友好的商业应用过渡的关键一步。这种血型微型设备非常重要，因为创伤中心和医院广泛依赖美国各地血库提供的献血来挽救生命。目前，美国每年有8400万例血型，每年约有1600万例献血。处理每品脱血液的成本接近200美元，因此，根据血型预先筛选献血者并有选择地指导捐赠过程（即血浆、红细胞）的能力将大大节省成本，并加强我们日益减少的血液供应。这种便携式技术也可以应用于偏远地区的救灾应用。此外，潜在的初步经济影响预计每年可达1200万美元，这将有助于提高美国在医疗保健方面的竞争力，包括创伤、血液治疗和手术。

This PFI: AIR Technology Translation project focuses on translating electrokinetic lab-on-a-chip blood typing technology to fill the need for rapid blood typing at blood donor sites and in disaster relief situations. The project will result in a proof-of-concept blood typing microdevice to simultaneously detect cell signatures without a microscope. This blood typing microdevice has the following unique features: portability, rapid ABO-Rh type identification, no reagents, simultaneous hematocrit determination, and small blood volumes. These features provide the following advantages: time- and cost-savings, increased efficiency, longer shelf life, and better reliability when compared to paper-based blood agglutination kits, the leading competitor in this market space. While most electrokinetic/microfluidic devices fit on handheld microscope slides, the supporting infrastructure to operate the device comprises a considerable cost and space footprint. This project addresses this technology gap by developing sensing electrodes to replace the optical microscope?s role of recording red blood cell responses in the microdevice, facilitating a key step in the transition from research discovery toward a user-friendly commercial application. This blood typing microdevice is important because trauma centers and hospitals rely extensively on blood donations provided by blood banks across the U.S to save lives. There are currently 84 million blood typings per year in the U.S., with approximately 16 million donations annually. Processing costs approach $200 per pint of blood, so the ability to pre-screen donors by blood type and selectively direct the donation process (i.e. plasma, red cells) would result in significant savings and bolster our declining blood supply. This portable technology could also be translated to remote geographical locations for disaster relief applications. In addition, the potential initial economic impact is expected to be up to $12 million per year, which will contribute to the U.S. competitiveness in healthcare including trauma, blood therapies, and surgeries.