SBIR Phase I: Hybrid Deformability and Fluorescence Cytometer for Biomarker Development and Validation

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will address the challenge of integrating two powerful single-cell analysis tools with the aim of developing and validating new biomarkers for malignancy. The deformability of invasive cells has long been hypothesized to confer their ability to migrate through tight tissue barriers and form metastases. Recently, this idea has been supported by mechanical measurements of cells either isolated from or directly in biological fluid specimens. This convergence of ideas from both biological and physical sciences represents a mechanical biomarker, and tools to be employed clinically to assay these properties are rapidly being developed. Cytovale?s technology measures cell deformability at a throughput of several thousand cells per second, comparable to the ubiquitous flow cytometer, which allows immediate measurement of cells directly in biological fluids. This technology has a demonstrated utility: highly sensitive detection of malignancy in cellularly heterogeneous clinical pleural effusions. Its integration with fluorescence in this project will provide a transformational research and clinical tool, well-aligned with the critical aims of improving patient care and reducing costs through automation, early detection of disease, and use of quantitative, novel biomarkers. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is realized by appreciating the applicability of the technology across research and clinical settings. Even without integration with fluorescence (flow) cytometry the technology has demonstrated its utility as a sensitive detector of malignancy in clinical specimens, specifically, pleural effusions. However, cell mechanics is an attractive biomarker for invasiveness, and is likely conserved throughout cells found in many biological fluids, including urine and fine needle aspirates. The proposed activity will further enhance the technology?s diagnostic accuracy. The instruments developed by Cytovale will be placed in clinical cytology labs to complement gold standard cytological methods, performing high sensitivity screens of biological fluids and eliminating unnecessary, invasive, and costly follow-up procedures. The hybrid instrument will also be an especially powerful tool for exploring connections between cell mechanics and traditional markers, which greatly extends the number of research laboratories which would benefit from this enabling technology.