STTR Phase I: Rapid-Release Cell Culture Platform for Flow Cytometry

小企业技术转让（STTR）第一阶段项目的更广泛影响是实现新的健康诊断，推进个性化医疗，并加速对各种疾病的研究，包括许多类型的癌症。用于诊断疾病的许多方法受到用于处理患者样品的方法的限制。常用的过程可能会破坏或破坏样本中存在的疾病标志物，导致对诊断可靠性和准确性的担忧。该产品平台可以通过保留疾病标志物以及提高产量来解决这一痛点，从而提高实验结果的保真度，并最终增强诊断医学。该项目将推进转型生物技术平台的开发，该平台可以非破坏性地将粘附的哺乳动物细胞从细胞培养皿表面分离。现有的方法会损伤这些细胞，并且细胞产量差异很大，这极大地限制了疾病诊断和治疗发现的临床应用。为了实现其作为现有方法的高度引人注目的替代方案的承诺，本项目将解决以下技术障碍：1）确定材料的最佳组成和设计，2）验证平台对细胞的影响，3）使用有助于制造目的的制造方法，和4）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。

The broader impact of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project is to enable new health diagnostics, advance personalized medicine, and accelerate research for various diseases, including many types of cancers. Many methods used to diagnose disease are limited by the methods used to process patient samples. Commonly used processes can disrupt or destroy disease markers present in samples, leading to concerns about diagnostic dependability and accuracy. The proposed product platform can address this pain point by retaining disease markers as well as increasing yields which results in higher-fidelity experimental results and ultimately, enhances diagnostic medicine.The proposed project will advance the development of a transformational biotechnology platform which non-destructively detaches adherent mammalian cells from a cell dish surface. Existing methods can damage these cells and are highly varied in cell yields which greatly limit clinical applications for disease diagnosis and therapeutic discovery. To fulfill its promise as a highly compelling alternative to existing methods, the following technical hurdles will be addressed in this project: 1) determining the optimal composition and design of the material, 2) validating the effects of the platform on cells, 3) using fabrication methods conducive to manufacturing purposes, and 4) benchmarking its performance against existing Flow Cytometry methods for adherent cells.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.