Bio-MicroElectroMechanical Systems (BioMEMS) Resource Center

描述（由申请人提供）：微加工技术或微机电系统（MEMS）已经彻底改变了电子工业，现在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主要应用包括“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中执行高通量生物化学。同样令人兴奋的是，最近在微环境中对细胞行为的理解方面取得的进展已经开始为制造活体微型设备铺平道路。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，具有广泛的应用范围，从诊断，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。NIH BioMEMS资源中心的使命是弥合MEMS工程和生物医学界之间的差距，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。为了将BioMEMS的工具提供给生物医学界，我们将精力集中在两个核心技术研发项目上。在核心项目1中，我们将使用惯性微流体技术对细胞和粒子运动进行高通量和精确的微尺度控制，以分选和分析血液中特定疾病的“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”平台来研究细胞和组织对多种刺激的反应动力学。此外，还有23个合作项目利用并帮助推进核心技术。BMRC还为NIH研究人员提供在生物学和医学中使用微系统技术工具的服务。核心、合作和服务活动与丰富的培训和传播活动相辅相成。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、实验课程和研讨会。传播活动非常广泛，包括出版物，演讲，网络展示，专题讨论会和会议，访问教师计划和技术转让。我们也非常成功地通过许可和分拆商业化以及使用MEMS代工厂制造微芯片来传播我们的技术。BMRC在MEMS和生物界面的前沿技术开发方面非常成功，并通过合作、服务活动、有组织的培训和传播计划将这些技术传播到生物医学界。

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.