High-content Label-free Electro-optic Surface Plasmon Resonance Assay Platform

描述（由申请人提供）：第一阶段SBIR提案的目标是开发一种基于表面等离子体共振（SPR）的新型仪器平台，如果该平台得到验证，将大大提高这种无标签技术在系统生物学研究中使用高含量分析的研究人员的实用性。该平台的优势来自于检测模式的改变，允许固态测量作为电压函数的SPR位移。通过摆脱角度扫描或波长扫描方法，提出的专有电光光栅耦合SPR平台（EOSPR）可以同时研究多达100,000个感兴趣区域的束缚质量变化。与现有仪器相比，灵敏度的提高预计将改善目前无标签的最新技术，因为在拟议的系统中，数据收集将比其他高含量设备要快得多。在平均测量中包含额外的数据意味着更大的信噪比，但EOSPR系统具有其他SPR平台无法实现的进一步优势。一种只能在扫描速度与espr设备一样快的系统上实现的信号斩波方案有望降低仪器的噪声。更好的信号和更低的噪声的结合有望导致无标签检测灵敏度的提高，可以接近基于标签的技术。此外，由于SPR曲线的扫描可以比传统设备更快地完成，因此可以直接测量更快速的结合事件。验证该技术是否可以转化为商业产品所需的步骤包括：拟议芯片的建模，芯片的制造，修改现有的由Ciencia先前设计的SPR仪器，并在原型系统上进行概念验证实验。本提案概述了完成这些任务的目标，并将采用战略咨询安排和分包合同，以最大限度地提高这个可能影响很大的项目取得成功的可能性。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The objective of this Phase I SBIR proposal is the development of a novel instrumentation platform based on Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) that if validated would greatly increase the utility of this label-free technology to researchers utilizing high-content assays in systems biology investigations. The benefits of this platform derive from a change in detection paradigm that permits solid-state measurements of SPR shifts as a function of voltage. By moving away from an angle-scanning or wavelength-scanning approach, the proposed proprietary electro-optic grating-coupled SPR platform (EOSPR) would investigate changes in bound mass at as many as 100,000 regions of interest simultaneously. The sensitivity increase over current instrumentation is expected to improve over current label-free state-of-the-art in that data collection will be significantly more rapid in the proposed systm than in other high-content devices. The inclusion of additional data into the averaged measurement implies a greater signal-to-noise ratio, but further advantages are available to the EOSPR system that would not be viable in other SPR platforms. A signal-chopping scheme that could only be implemented on a system that scans as rapidly as the EOSPR device is expected to reduce the noise of the instrumentation. The combination of better signal and reduced noise is expected to lead to increases in label- free detection sensitivity that could approach that of label-based techniques. In addition, since scans of the SPR curves could be completed much more rapidly than in classic devices, the direct measure of more rapid binding events becomes possible. The steps that will be required to verify if this technology can be turned into a commercial product include: modeling of the proposed chip, fabrication the chip, modifying an existing SPR instrument that was previously designed by Ciencia, and conducting proof-of-concept experiments on the prototype system. The objectives to meet these tasks are outlined within the body of this proposal, and strategic consulting arrangements and subcontracts will be employed to maximize the possibility of success for this potentially high-impact project. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Current trends in biomedical research imply that the future of medicine will rely upon ever-increasing degrees of personalized therapy. As the number of understood disease states and therapeutic options increase, so does the amount of diagnostic information necessary to make an informed decision. The proposed EOSPR technology aims to aid systems biology researchers in elucidating and understanding these complex molecular mechanisms by filling the need for a sensitive, label-free, and high-content assay that is affordable enough for widespread adoption.