Democratizing nanopore-based research to enable novel diagnostics

该项目将进一步将渥太华大学的新型纳米孔制造技术从目前的实验室研究原型开发为可交付给第三方用于其研究的坚固设备。与我们的商业合作伙伴雅培实验室共同开发用于体外医疗诊断市场的新型分子检测平台，是我们实现长期目标的关键一步。医学正在经历一场技术革命，关键的医疗决定将由患者独特的分子特征决定。新技术使这一新兴的个性化医学时代成为可能，这些技术足够敏感，可以一次研究一个分子的基本生物构件，如DNA、RNA和蛋白质。随着这些技术的成熟，它们将影响医学的方方面面：伴随诊断将决定癌症患者是否会对新的靶向治疗产生反应，简单的血液测试将确定脑震荡是否需要进一步治疗，重症监护医生将在床边测试患者的心脏健康，而不是等待数小时的中央实验室的结果。固态纳米孔是推动这场革命的领先候选技术，但目前还没有合适的制造技术为固态纳米孔技术的商业化提供可行的途径。我们革命性的孔制造方法，受控介质击穿，或CBD，以一种简单、可扩展、低成本的方式解决了这个问题。该项目的目标是将CBD开发成一个原型台式纳米孔制造和传感仪器，该仪器足够简单和坚固，足以供关注健康的研究人员用来开发新一代改进的诊断方法。最终，该项目将改善加拿大的医疗保健，并帮助加拿大加强其作为新健康和纳米技术发展的全球领导者的地位。

This project will further develop the University of Ottawa's novel nanopore fabrication technology from the current lab research prototype, to a robust device that can be delivered to third parties for use in their research. It is a key step in our long-term goal to develop a novel molecular detection platform for in-vitro medical diagnostics market with our commercial partner, Abbott Laboratories. Medicine is undergoing a technological revolution, whereby critical healthcare decisions will be driven by a patient's unique molecular profile. This emerging era of personalized medicine is being made possible by new technologies that are sensitive enough to investigate fundamental biological building blocks like DNA, RNA, and proteins, one molecule at a time. As these technologies mature, they will impact all aspects of medicine: companion diagnostics will determine whether or not a cancer patient will respond to a new targeted therapy, a simple blood test will determine whether a concussion requires further treatment, and critical care physicians will test a patient's heart health at the bedside instead of waiting hours for results from a centralized lab. Solid-state nanopores - nanometer sized holes in silicon membranes - are a leading candidate technology driving this revolution, but there is currently no appropriate fabrication techniques that provide a viable path to commercialize solid-state nanopore-based technologies. Our revolutionary pore fabrication method, controlled dielectric breakdown, or CBD, solves this issue in a simple, scalable, low-cost way. The goal of this project is to develop CBD into a prototype bench-top nanopore fabrication and sensing instrument that is simple and robust enough to be used by health-focused researchers to develop a new generation of improved diagnostics. Ultimately this project will improve Canadian healthcare and help Canada strengthen its position as a global leader in the development of new health and nanotechnologies.