I-Corps: Nanomembranes for Cancer Detection and Surveillance

I-Corps：用于癌症检测和监测的纳米膜

• 批准号: 1834853
• 负责人: James McGrath
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: University of Rochester
• 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: 2018-07-01 至 2019-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1834853&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Corps; Nanomembranes; Cancer; Detection; Surveillance

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project concerns a novel technology for the detection and the surveillance of cancer. Assays known as ?liquid biopsies? seek to diagnose or monitor cancer by surveying small amounts of body fluids for cancer biomarkers can be confounded by contaminants. This project will examine the potential of a novel ?silicon nanomembrane? device to serve the liquid biopsy market by purifying cancer biomarkers quickly and with high purity. By enabling cancer to be discovered early, the technology could dramatically impact the cost of cancer care. In bladder cancer surveillance for example, a liquid biopsy assay could replace invasive and expensive cystoscopy exams with simple urinalysis. In addition to its potential to lower US health care costs, the project is expected to have regional impact through the addition of a new commercial enterprise or the growth of an existing nanomembrane manufacturer. This I-Corps project will investigate the commercial potential of a novel device for the capture of naturally occurring vesicles, called exosomes, from raw body fluids. These vesicles are released by tumor cells into body fluids and thus have tremendous potential in cancer diagnostics. Current exosome purification techniques are labor intensive and co-purify exosomes with protein. We have discovered that our ultrathin nanoporous silicon nitride (NPN) membranes can capture and purify large quantities of exosomes from biofluids when used in simple microfluidic devices. We have also developed sophisticated nanomembranes featuring photonic structures that could be used to determine the molecular composition of exosomes. Through interviews with potential customers, we will attempt to identify a minimum viable product that could gain early traction in the market. We will also seek to define the features of a more sophisticated product concept that could be transformative to cancer diagnosis. We hope to emerge from the experience with a clear value proposition and an understanding of the infrastructure and partnerships we will need to make a new commercial enterprise.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i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力涉及到一种用于检测和监测癌症的新技术。所谓的化验？液体活检？通过调查少量体液来寻求诊断或监测癌症，以寻找可能被污染物混淆的癌症生物标记物。这个项目将检验一种新型的？硅纳米膜？的潜力。通过快速、高纯度地提纯癌症生物标记物来服务于液体活检市场的设备。通过使癌症能够及早发现，这项技术可以极大地影响癌症护理的成本。例如，在膀胱癌监测中，液体活组织检查可以用简单的尿检取代侵入性的昂贵的膀胱镜检查。除了降低美国医疗保健成本的潜力外，该项目预计还将通过增加一家新的商业企业或发展一家现有的纳米膜制造商来产生地区影响。这个i-Corps项目将调查一种新型设备的商业潜力，该设备可以从生体液中捕获自然产生的囊泡，称为外体。这些囊泡由肿瘤细胞释放到体液中，因此在癌症诊断中具有巨大的潜力。目前的外切体纯化技术是劳动密集型的，需要与蛋白质共同纯化外切体。我们发现，我们的超薄纳米多孔氮化硅(NPN)膜用于简单的微流控设备时，可以从生物体液中捕获和纯化大量的外切体。我们还开发了具有光子结构的复杂纳米膜，可以用来确定外切体的分子组成。通过与潜在客户的访谈，我们将试图确定一种最低限度可行的产品，可以在市场上获得早期的吸引力。我们还将寻求定义更复杂的产品概念的特征，这可能会对癌症诊断产生变革。我们希望从这一经历中获得明确的价值主张，并了解我们创建新的商业企业所需的基础设施和合作伙伴关系。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。