Paper-based microfluidics for enhanced allergy tests

目前有400多种独特的过敏症。可能需要几天到几个月的时间 进行过敏测试，这取决于当地的医疗保健系统。ExVivo Labs是一家总部位于安大略省的 一家初创公司目前正在开发一种非处方药的家庭过敏诊断皮肤贴片测试 放映。这样的测试将允许用户在一小时内测试自己是否有可疑的过敏情况。 皮肤贴片将被放置在皮肤上，贴片底部的微针将使 要从用户处收集的液体的量。嵌入皮肤贴片中的化学物质将分析和测试 这种液体的过敏反应的迹象和测试结果将被传达在顶部表面 有蓝色信号的补丁。为了分析测试中涉及的低流体量，基于纸张的 需要微流控系统来确保流体的有效使用，并产生准确和一致的 测试结果。皮肤贴片必须保持足够小，以方便用户。一块皮肤贴片就可以 为了进一步方便，还可以将一些已知的过敏测试合并到一个单独的贴片中。 在这项提案中，UOIT麦克唐纳实验室的纸质微流控专业知识将被利用 使ExVivo实验室能够开发用于过敏筛查的非处方药皮肤贴片。这项研究将会扩大 流体力学知识的应用，特别是通过利用纸基微流体工具来 为最终用户创建有用的测试。由此产生的过敏测试将通过减少时间来增加健康和安全 需要测试和确认过敏情况。ExVivo Labs是一家加拿大公司，目前有三家 全职员工，这将增长到制造和销售正在开发的产品，从而带来更多的工作岗位 以及对加拿大经济的好处。

There are currently over four hundred unique allergic conditions. It can take anywhere from days to months to have an allergy test performed, depending on the local health care system. ExVivo Labs is an Ontario-based startup company currently working to develop an over-the-counter home diagnostic skin patch test for allergy screening. Such a test would allow users to test themselves for suspected allergic conditions within an hour. The skin patch will be placed on the skin and microneedles on the bottom of the patch will enable a small amount of fluid to be collected from the user. Chemistry embedded within the skin patch will analyze and test this fluid for an indication of an allergic reaction and the test result will be communicated on the top surface of the patch with a blue signal. In order to analyze the low fluid amounts involved in the tests, paper-based microfluidic systems are required to ensure efficient use of the fluid, and to generate accurate and consistent test results. The skin patches must be kept small enough to be convenient for users. A single skin patch can also be made to incorporate a number of the known allergy tests into a single patch for further convenience. In this proposal the paper-based microfluidic expertise of the MacDonald Lab at UOIT will be harnessed to enable ExVivo Labs to develop over-the-counter skin patches for allergy screening. The research will expand the application of fluid mechanics knowledge, specifically by harnessing paper-based microfluidics tools to create useful tests for end-users. The resulting allergy test will increase health and safety by reducing the time required to test and confirm allergic conditions. ExVivo Labs is a Canadian company, currently with three full-time employees, that will grow to manufacture and sell the product being developed, leading to more jobs and benefits to the Canadian economy.