A TWO DIMENSIONAL MULTI-CHANNEL BIO-POLYMER PURIFICATION SYSTEM

FLOW FFF HAS BEEN DEMONSTRATED AS A HIGH SPEED ANALYTICAL TOOL FOR SEPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF MACROMOLECULES, BIO-POLYMERS, AND CELL PARTICLES IN THE SIZE RANGE OF 0.01 TO 50 MICRONS. FILTRATION IS A WIDELY ACCEPTED TECHNIQUE FOR SIMPLE PURIFICATION AND IS COMMONLY PRACTICED IN MANY ANALYTICAL AND BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH LABORATORIES. COUPLING THESE TWO BIO-COMPATIBLE TECHNIQUES IN TWO DIMENSIONAL MULTI-CHANNEL DESIGN WILL SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE THE POWER, SELECTIVITY, SEPARATION SPEED, THROUGHPUT, AND ANALYTICAL INFORMATION RELATED TO THE ANALYTES. EXTENSION AND COMMERCIALIZATION OF THIS TECHNOLOGY FOR PREPARATIVE SCALE APPLICATION OFFERS A NEW BIO-COMPATIBLE, RAPID SEPARATION, CHARACTERIZATION, AND PURIFICATION SYSTEM FOR MEETING THE NEEDS IN BIO-POLYMER, CELL, AND SUB-CELLULAR RESEARCH. SPECIFICALLY, THE PROPOSED TWO DIMENSIONAL MULTI-CHANNEL DESIGN INVOLVES THE USE OF MEMBRANES WITH DECREASING PORE SIZE IN A STACKED ASSEMBLY. THE PURIFIED SIZE CLASSED FRACTIONS WOULD BE COLLECTED AT THE OUTLET OF EACH CHANNEL. THE PROPOSED PHASE I FOCUSES ON MEMBRANE AND MULTI-CHANNEL DETECTOR TECHNOLOGY AND THE FEASIBILITY OF COMMERCIALIZATION OF THIS MULTI-CHANNEL UNIVERSAL BIOPOLYMERPURIFICATION SYSTEM.