I-Corps: Automated Multicellular Aggregate Dissociator

I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力在于引入了一种新技术，为数十亿美元的干细胞行业提供了独特的、具有成本效益的解决方案。干细胞治疗是一个快速增长的全球市场，预计未来五年将以每年40%的速度增长。基于细胞的治疗具有巨大的潜力，可以为许多目前无法治愈的疾病提供变革性的医疗保健，产生广泛的社会影响。该项目还将对其他生物技术部门产生更广泛的影响，例如抗体生产。这个i-Corps项目解决了目前干细胞衍生技术生产中的一个主要限制，即细胞聚集。该技术通过温和的机械力将多细胞干细胞椭圆形团块自动且可控地解聚成单个细胞。这项技术的概念验证之前已经使用多种类型的成人干细胞进行了演示。细胞死亡最少，细胞质量仍然很高，这为减少操作时间和减少批次间差异的当前解聚方法提供了一种经济的替代方法。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is in the introduction of a new technology that provides a unique and cost-effective solution for the multibillion dollar stem cell industry. Stem cell therapy is a fast growing global market, with an estimated 40% annual growth in the next five years. Cell-based therapy has the vast potential to provide transformative healthcare to many currently incurable diseases, providing broad societal impact. This project will also impact more broadly to other biotechnology sectors, such as antibody production.This I-Corps project addresses a major current limitation in the production of stem cell-derived technologies, namely cellular aggregation. The technology provides an automated and well-controlled disaggregation of multicellular stem cell spheroid clumps into single cells via gentle mechanical forces. Proof-of-concept of the technology was previously demonstrated using multiple types of adult stem cells. Cell death was minimal and cell quality remained high, providing promise for an economical alternative to current disaggregation methods with reduced operating time and reduced batch-to-batch variations.