I-Corps: Disposable Microflow Cytometer for Point-of-Care and Mobile Testing

I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力源于缺乏诊断/预后流式细胞仪平台，这些平台体积小，移动性强，无法在护理点使用。该技术具有流式细胞术公认的诊断能力、准确性和市场接受度，并将其置于实时测试可以影响决策的地方。从长远来看，由于能够进行快速分类或早期诊断，这种平台可能既可以挽救生命，又具有成本效益。患者、临床医生和研究人员致力于新药和蛋白质工程的发现，可能会从这项技术中受益匪浅。此外，便携式平台可以为新的专业诊断测试铺平道路，这些测试可以在医生办公室、移动环境甚至救灾场景中进行。这个I-Corps项目将进一步开发便携式和一次性细胞仪平台。该技术监测微流控芯片上磁标记细胞的轨迹，并使用计算模型来估计它们的膜抗原表达。这种基于弹丸的细胞术技术减轻了传感器的样本识别负担，使其能够选择最佳的传感方式进行系统集成和数据采集。在测量目标表面抗原或其他生物标志物时，集成的一次性电流式细胞仪就像库尔特计数器一样简单，否则无法直接电分析。此外，该技术将样品操作阶段嵌入到细胞术过程中，为未处理样品的直接表达谱分析开辟了道路。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project arises from the lack of diagnostic/prognostic flow cytometry platforms that are small and mobile enough to be employed at the point-of-care. The technology takes the recognized diagnostics capability, accuracy, and market acceptance of flow cytometry and places it where real-time testing can impact decision making. Such a platform can potentially be both lifesaving and cost-effective in the long run due to enabling rapid triage or early diagnosis. Patients as well as clinicians and researchers working on the discovery of new drugs and protein engineering would potentially significantly benefit from this technology. Furthermore, a portable platform can pave the way for new specialized diagnostic tests that can be performed at a doctor's office, in mobile settings, or even in disaster-relief scenarios.This I-Corps project will further develop a portable and disposable cytometry platform. The technology monitors the trajectories of magnetically labeled cells on a microfluidic chip and uses computational modeling to estimate their membrane antigen expression. This projectile-based cytometry technique takes the burden of sample discrimination off the sensor, making it possible to choose an optimal sensing modality for system integration and data acquisition. The integrated yet disposable electrical flow cytometer works as simply as a Coulter counter while measuring the target surface antigen or other biomarkers that otherwise could not directly be analyzed electrically. Furthermore, the technology embeds the sample manipulation stage into the cytometry process, opening a path for direct expression profiling from unprocessed samples.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.