Bio-MicroElectroMechanical Systems (BioMEMS) Resource Center

描述(申请人提供)：微制造技术或微电子机械系统(MEMS)已经彻底改变了电子工业，现在正准备彻底改变制药和生物技术工业，以及基础生物医学科学。微制造在生物学中的两个领先应用包括：“芯片上的基因”，用于同时监测人类和生物体中潜在的所有基因的表达水平；以及“芯片上的实验室”类型的设备，用于在非常小的体积内执行高通量生物化学。同样令人兴奋的是，最近在理解微环境中细胞行为方面的进展已经开始为活的微型设备铺平道路。生命系统和MEMS的新兴集成有望成为21世纪医学的关键技术，其应用范围广泛，包括诊断、治疗、基于细胞的高通量药物筛选工具以及基础和应用细胞生物学工具。拟建的NIH生物MEMS资源中心的使命是弥合MEMS工程和生物医学社区之间的差距，为生物医学研究人员和临床医生提供MEMS和活生物系统接口的新技术。为了让生物微机械的工具能够为生物医学界所用，我们集中精力进行了两个核心技术研发项目。在核心项目1中，我们将使用惯性微流控技术对细胞和颗粒的运动进行高通量和精确的微尺度控制，以分类和分析血液中特定于疾病的“稀有”细胞。在核心项目2中，我们将开发广泛实用的“活细胞阵列”平台，以研究细胞和组织对多种刺激的反应动力学。此外，还有23个合作项目既利用并帮助推进核心技术。BMRC还为NIH的研究人员提供服务，让他们在生物学和医学中使用微系统技术的工具。核心、协作和服务活动与丰富的培训和传播活动组合相辅相成。我们的合作者和服务用户都是资金雄厚的NIH调查人员。培训活动包括特别培训、实验室课程和讲习班。传播活动非常广泛，包括出版物、演示文稿、网络展示、座谈会和会议、访问教员计划和技术转移。我们还通过许可和副产品商业化以及使用MEMS铸造厂制造微芯片，非常成功地传播了我们的技术。BMRC一直非常成功地开发了MEMS和生物学接口的尖端使能技术，并通过合作、服务活动和有组织的培训和传播计划将这些技术传播给生物医学界。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Microfabrication techniques or microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) that have revolutionized the electronics industry are now poised to revolutionize the pharmaceutical & biotechnology industries, & basic biomedical sciences. The two leading applications of microfabrication in biology include "genes-on-a-chip" to monitor the expression level of potentially all genes in humans & organisms simultaneously, & "lab-on-a-chip" type devices to perform high-throughput biochemistry in very small volumes. Equally exciting is recent advances in the understanding of cellular behavior in microenvironments have started to pave the way towards living micro-devices. The emerging integration of living systems & MEMS are expected to become key technologies in the 21st century of medicine with a broad range of applications varying from diagnostic, therapeutics, cell-based high-throughput drug screening tools, & basic & applied cell biology tools. The mission for the proposed NIH BioMEMS Resource Center is to bridge the gap between MEMS engineering & biomedical community to provide new technologies at the interface of MEMS & living biological systems to biomedical investigators & clinicians. In order to make the tools of BioMEMS available to the biomedical community, we focused our efforts on 2 core technological research & development projects. In Core Project 1, we will use inertial microfluidic technology for high-throughput & precise microscale control of cell & particle motion for sorting & analysis of disease specific "rare" cells in blood. In Core Project 2, we will develop broad utility "living cell array" platforms to study the dynamics of cellular & tissue response to a multitude of stimuli. Also, there are 23 collaborative projects that both utilize & help advance the core technologies. The BMRC also provides services to NIH investigators to use the tools of microsystems technology in biology & medicine. The Core, Collaborative, & Service activities are complemented with a rich portfolio of training & dissemination activities. Our collaborators & service users are extremely well-funded NIH investigators. The training activities include ad-hoc training, laboratory courses, & workshops. The dissemination activities are very broad encompassing publications, presentations, web presence, symposia & meetings, visiting faculty program, & technology transfer. We have also been very successful in disseminating our technologies through licensing & spin-off commercialization and the use of MEMS foundries for manufacturing of microchips. BMRC has been very successful in developing cutting-edge, enabling technologies at the Interface of MEMS & biology, & disseminating these technologies to the biomedical community via collaborations, service activities, & organized training & dissemination programs.