iFACS: Imaging Florescence Activated Cell Sorter to sort cells based on images

iFACSImaging Florescence Activated Cell Sorter to sort cells based on images NanoCellect BiomedicalIncRESEARCH and RELATED Other Project InformationPROJECT SUMMARY Advances in reagentse gCRiSPRand analytical toolse gflow cytometershave improved the ability to alter and characterize cellular phenotypesUltimatelymany key applications in biomedicine require efficient and accurate isolation of cell populations according to features contained in high content imagesUnfortunatelymicroscopic laser microdissection systems have a throughput that is too slow to be practical in many applicationswhile the existing flow cytometers that can sort cellsfluorescence activated cell sorters or FACSprovide only sizeinternal complexityand fluorescence intensity information and lack the rich data of imagingAnother critical limitation is that the existing flow cytometers that can imagecannot sort cellsNanoCellect has made a highly affordable FACS to increase access to this important high throughput tool for cell analysisHere we propose to enhance our existing low cost FACS with the ability to image cells and sort them based on image featuresThis will allow users to pursue new strategies in drug screening and mechanism of action researchas well as work with suspension cell linessuch as those that dominate the recent advances in immuno oncologyIn Phase I researchwe have demonstrated the world s first imaging flow cytometer with cell sorting capabilitiesiFACSin a unique design of space time coding with an optical spatial filterThe approach adds negligible cost to the system for the desirable features of cell imaging and sortingTo fully realize the enormous potential of the design and to meet the demands for most applicationsin Phase II we will develop high throughput image based cell sorting with innovative image guided gating schemes supported by machine learning and interactive user machine interfaceEssentiallyimage based flow cytometry gating uses similar cell isolation criteria as the techniques of laser capture microdissection or cell aspiration to isolate cells of interestwithX throughput improvements tocells per secondWe envision such unique capabilities will become commondefault features for tomorrow s users as the tool becomes as intuitive and ubiquitous as fluorescent microscopyThe proposed iFACS will be transformative and benefit numerous biomedical applicationssuch as isolation of cells based on organelle translocationcell cycle analysesdetection and counting of phagocytosed particlesand protein co localizationto name just a few