SBIR Phase II: Development of a Miniaturized Multiwell Plate Reader

SBIR 第二阶段：微型多孔板读数器的开发

• 批准号: 1831082
• 负责人: Kevin Seitter
• 金额: $ 74.84万
• 依托单位: Cerillo, Inc
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-09-15 至 2022-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1831082&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; II; Development; Miniaturized

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will be an instrument that alleviates several current difficulties in the growth measurement of many microbes, especially anaerobic and other fastidious organisms. A large number of these species are naturally occurring in the human body, and have recently been shown to play critical roles in allergies, autoimmune diseases, dietary health, cancer, infection response, and more. The study of these species is considered by many to be the next frontier of modern medicine, especially as current approaches to managing infectious diseases, such as traditional antibiotics, appear to be losing effectiveness. However, current measurement technology is largely incompatible with the specialized environments and chambers in which anaerobic organisms must be grown. There is a large unmet need for better ways to measure anaerobic bacterial growth; this need is growing quickly as interest in the field increases. The ability to conduct high-throughput experiments in specialized environments will become critical as research into various human microbiomes accelerates, and demand for high-volume data grows. The existing market for high-throughput measurement devices is at least $300 million and growing. This platform will allow for systematic studies of cell culture growth that can be accomplished easily and economically. This SBIR Phase II project proposes to develop and refine a miniaturized multi-well plate reader that measures optical characteristics of up to 96 cell samples for measuring growth of many microbial samples simultaneously. The continuing rise of systems and computational biology demonstrates a growing demand for large amounts of quantitative data, and the variety of microbes relevant to the human body necessitates such an approach. However, these measurement techniques are not universally accessible due to current instruments' complexity, size, and cost. This project will continue development of a miniature, simplified version of a device called a multi-well plate reader, expanding the availability of parallel growth measurement (and other metrics) to a wider array of researchers and environments. The first goal is to simplify the instrument's electronics, add an on-board display for clarity, and allow battery-powered operation. The next goal is to accelerate equilibration to any surrounding environment to allow proper functioning even in extreme conditions, by measuring a wide array of environmental variables at different points in space and time. The third goal is to solidify the device's mechanical aspects for reliability and stability in a shaker. Finally, this project will support the development of a fully-functional wireless interface for control and data management, allowing effective remote use in any environment.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力将是一种工具，它可以解决目前许多微生物，特别是厌氧和其他难养微生物生长测量中的几个困难。这些物种中有大量天然存在于人体中，最近被证明在过敏、自身免疫性疾病、饮食健康、癌症、感染反应等方面发挥着关键作用。对这些物种的研究被许多人认为是现代医学的下一个前沿，特别是在目前管理传染病的方法（如传统抗生素）似乎正在失去效力的情况下。然而，目前的测量技术在很大程度上与厌氧生物必须生长的专门环境和腔室不兼容。有一个很大的未满足的需要更好的方法来衡量厌氧细菌的生长;这种需要正在迅速增长的兴趣在该领域的增加。随着对各种人体微生物组的研究加速，以及对大量数据的需求增长，在专门环境中进行高通量实验的能力将变得至关重要。高通量测量设备的现有市场至少为3亿美元，并且还在增长。 该平台将允许对细胞培养物生长进行系统研究，这可以容易且经济地完成。该SBIR第二阶段项目建议开发和改进一种小型化的多孔板读取器，该读取器可测量多达96个细胞样品的光学特性，用于同时测量许多微生物样品的生长。系统和计算生物学的持续兴起表明对大量定量数据的需求不断增长，而与人体相关的微生物的多样性需要这种方法。然而，由于当前仪器的复杂性、尺寸和成本，这些测量技术并不普遍可用。该项目将继续开发一种称为多孔板读取器的设备的微型简化版本，将并行生长测量（和其他指标）的可用性扩展到更广泛的研究人员和环境。第一个目标是简化仪器的电子设备，增加一个板载显示器以提高清晰度，并允许电池供电操作。下一个目标是通过在空间和时间的不同点测量各种环境变量，加速与任何周围环境的平衡，即使在极端条件下也能正常工作。第三个目标是巩固该设备的机械方面的可靠性和稳定性的振动筛。最后，该项目将支持开发一个全功能的无线接口，用于控制和数据管理，允许在任何环境中有效地远程使用。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。