Paper-based and capillary-driven microfluidics platforms for allergy tests

过敏是一个普遍存在的问题，影响着6000多万北美人。标准的测试方法是皮肤刺痛法，医生将各种过敏原放在皮肤上，用针刺皮肤，引起过敏反应。这种反应会引起严重的刺激，肿胀和瘙痒。许多患者（尤其是儿童）发现皮肤点刺试验有侵入性和不舒服，有些不适合的候选人。拟议中的研究将有助于开发一种安全、简单和特定的皮肤贴片，确保患者尽可能快速、舒适地得到诊断，这将增加测试，并使患者了解自己的过敏状况。这项研究的目标是利用毛细管驱动的微流体策略，如通过基于纸和线的设备和电化学的流动，来开发一种皮肤贴片，可以由我们的工业合作伙伴ExVivo实验室公司商业化。这些策略将有助于分离和浓缩患者样品中发现的化学物质，以便即使在小体积的样品液中也能检测出过敏情况。病人的样本将是组织液，可以通过在皮肤上贴一小片微针无痛地收集。样品将被放入我们开发的微流体装置中，并产生一个视觉信号来指示患者是否对正在测试的过敏原过敏。该研究将与加拿大的行业合作伙伴ExVivo实验室合作进行，ExVivo实验室将获得必要的知识、专业知识和资源，以克服与开发过敏测试皮肤贴片相关的挑战，并最终开发出成功的商业产品。拟议的CRD补助金的研究成果将使进一步的扩展提供更多的就业机会，并通过用户友好的诊断测试产品增加扩大加拿大经济的可能性。

Allergies are a pervasive problem that affects more than 60 million North Americans. The standard test is the skin prick method, where a doctor places various allergens on the skin and pricks the skin with a needle to induce an allergic reaction. The reaction can be severely irritating with both swelling and itching. Many patients (especially children) find the skin prick test invasive and uncomfortable, and some are not suitable candidates. The proposed research will contribute to the development of a safe, simple and certain skin patch that ensures patients are diagnosed as quickly and comfortably as possible, which will increase testing and keep patients informed of their allergic conditions.The objective of the proposed research is to utilize capillary-driven microfluidic strategies, such as flow through paper and thread-based devices and electrochemistry, to develop a skin patch that can be commercialized by our industrial partner, ExVivo Labs Inc. The strategies will help to isolate and concentrate the chemicals found in patient samples to enable detection of allergic conditions even in small volumes of sample fluid. The patient samples will be interstitial fluid, which can be collected painlessly through a small patch of microneedles applied to the skin. The sample will be wicked into the microfluidic device we develop and a visual signal will be generated to indicate if the patient is allergic to the allergens being tested or not.The research will be undertaken in collaboration with a Canadian industry partner, ExVivo Labs, who will gain access to the knowledge, expertise, and resources necessary to overcome the challenges associated with developing their allergy test skin patch, and as a result to develop a successful commercial product. The research outcomes from the proposed CRD Grant would enable additional expansion providing more jobs and increasing the likelihood for expanding the Canadian economy with user-friendly diagnostic test products.