Portable Lab-on-a-chip Flow Cytometer: Prototype and Application Development

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Portable Lab-on-a-chip Flow Cytometer: Prototype and Application Development NanoSort RESEARCH and RELATED Other Project Information 7. PROJECT SUMMARY The lab-on-a-chip NanoSort device proposed here advances the achievements of the Phase I Beta Prototype project. This device will be appropriate for commercial success by improving access to and reducing the cost and complexity of sorting flow cytometry. Furthermore, it will expand the applications that this device can serve, including translational and clinical point-of-care flow cytometry applications for diagnostics, prognosis, and personalized medicine. Having completed key milestones in the Phase I program, such as mas- producible injection molded chips, advanced signal detection and processing and key performance metrics, we propose to extend the capabilities to compete with best-in-class devices. Our Aims for this project are to create a device (NanoSort-1 or NS-1) that will have improved performance parameters of 6-color detection with a single photomultiplier tube (PMT), 4-way sorting using low shear stress piezoelectric (PZT) actuators, and a robust digital signal processing algorithm (Color-Space-Time (CoST) implementation that allows 10,000 events per second detection and sorting. In addition to these innovations, we will construct the device using current good manufacturing processes (cGMP) to assure that this device will be UL and CE certified and scalable to 10,000 units per year. We will validate this device with consultation from established researchers at UCSD and device manufactures (Becton-Dickinson and Life Technologies). PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Portable Lab-on-a-chip Flow Cytometer: Prototype and Application Development NanoSort RESEARCH and RELATED Other Project Information 8. PROJECT NARRATIVE Important techniques in biomedical research include the counting (flow cytometry) and separation (cell sorting) of cells or particles based on their innate properties, currently performed by very large (~800lbs) and expensive (~ 500,000) machines that require dedicated space and staff for their operation. We have invented and patented three techniques that enable the development of a sorting flow cytometer at a fraction of the cost and size of conventional instruments, using microfluidics to channel cells, piezoelectric actuators to sort cells, and a technique called Color-Space-Time coding to detect several colors with a single detector (as opposed to one detector per color in conventional instruments). Reductions in costs and complexity make this new nanosorting device accessible to any researcher, advancing biomedical discovery.