Encapsulated Cell Microfluidic Sensor for Water Toxin Detection

Luna Innovations will determine the feasibility of developing an encapsulated cell based microfluidic sensor device that has an extended cell viability lifetime, requires no external power for cell maintenance, and is capable of detecting a wide array of water contaminants, toxic industrial chemicals (TICs) using multiple cytotoxicity endpoints. The proposed encapsulated cell technology will provide significant improvements in cell lifetime, operational stability, and decreased maintenance requirements, resulting in a transportable easy to operate, low power, field ready device. During Phase I Luna will demonstrate stable electrical impedance performance of encapsulated cells for a minimum of 45days with significant reduction in maintenance requirements. Phase II will focus on increasing cell lifetime, >90 days, removing the fluid pump system from the transportation unit, integrating temperature stability, detection and analysis systems into the portable unit, demonstrating sensitivity to a wide range of TICs for both colorometric and impedance sensing, and constructing a prototype for delivery to the U.S. Army. Concurrently, Luna will be working to adapt the encapsulated cell electrodes as sensor devices for other non-military applications, including water utilities at the state and local levels and other pharmacological toxicity testing.