Automated multicellular particle analyzer and sorter

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Stem cell research has emerged as a promising new field with potential treatments for diseases such as Parkinson's and diabetes, and injuries such as stroke and sports accidents.  In order to treat the many individuals affected by these conditions, there is a need for engineering protocols to expand these rare and valuable stem cells in controlled bioprocesses.  Many of the stem cells, when cultured in the laboratory, grow as spherical clusters of cells, or aggregates, which may contain thousands of cells.  It has been shown that the environment within these aggregates and the interactions between the cells are very important to maintaining the health and function of the cells.  Currently, our laboratory has to either destroy the aggregate structure to analyze the cells within, or "see" into the aggregate with sophisticated microscopes.  Both of these techniques, while providing limited information, either do not allow for analysis of intact aggregates, or for the aggregates to be cultured after the analysis.  The requested infrastructure consists of an Automated Large Particle Analyzer and Sorter that will alleviate these problems.  This instrument takes a sample of aggregates from a bioreactor culture and passes the aggregates individually through a flow cell, where parameters such as size, density and fluorescence can be measured.  The aggregates can then be sorted, based on criteria set by the user (i.e. aggregates larger than a certain diameter) and grown for further experiments. Overall, the requested equipment will enable the applicant to undertake novel biomedical engineering research on the large-scale expansion and differentiation of mammalian stem cells not currently possible.  The outcomes will be applicable to many stem cell systems, and will advance the field of biomedical engineering.  Moreover, this research will assist in the successful clinical implementation of stem cell technology, and is valuable to the health and well-being of Canadians.