Automated multicellular particle analyzer and sorter

干细胞研究已经成为一个有前景的新领域，有可能治疗帕金森症和糖尿病等疾病，以及中风和运动事故等伤害。为了治疗受这些疾病影响的许多个体，需要在受控的生物过程中扩展这些罕见而有价值的干细胞的工程协议。许多干细胞在实验室培养时，生长成球形细胞簇或聚集体，其中可能包含数千个细胞。研究表明，这些聚集体内的环境和细胞之间的相互作用对维持细胞的健康和功能非常重要。目前，我们的实验室要么破坏聚集体结构来分析里面的细胞，要么用复杂的显微镜“观察”聚集体。这两种技术虽然提供的信息有限，但要么不允许对完整的聚集体进行分析，要么不允许在分析后对聚集体进行培养。所要求的基础设施包括一个自动大颗粒分析仪和分选器，将缓解这些问题。该仪器从生物反应器培养物中提取聚集体样品，并将聚集体单独通过流动池，在流动池中可以测量诸如大小、密度和荧光等参数。然后可以根据用户设置的标准（即大于一定直径的聚集体）对聚集体进行排序，并为进一步的实验培养。总的来说，所要求的设备将使申请人能够对哺乳动物干细胞的大规模扩展和分化进行新的生物医学工程研究。研究结果将适用于许多干细胞系统，并将推动生物医学工程领域的发展。此外，这项研究将有助于干细胞技术的成功临床实施，对加拿大人的健康和福祉是有价值的。

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.