I-Corps: Development of a wicking fiber cytometer for cell analysis applications

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The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to explore applications of a device to predict cellular movement and behaviors in a laboratory. One application is simple and rapid assessment of the aggressive state of cancer in a clinical setting to inform treatment decisions. This could also be used in research to study cells in order to design new treatments. This I-Corps project is based on the development of wicking fibers for use in separating cells by physical, chemical, and biological characteristics. The fibers are currently used in non-biomedical application, e.g., they may be found in athletic apparel and facial tissue. These fibers are designed with certain features such as the ability to move liquids away from the body. It also has been found that the ability of the fibers to move liquid is an advantage in biomedical applications, both in understanding cell behaviors and in helping assess the current state of a disease. For instance, if fibers are placed vertically in a liquid containing normal and cancerous cells, the tumor cells will move quickly up the fibers, while the normal cells will remain at the bottom. More aggressive cancer cells travel up the fibers more rapidly than less aggressive cells. This rapid differentiation allows us to better understand why cells behave in certain ways and to harness that information to create improved biomedical solutions.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.