DEVELOPMENT OF A STOPPED-FLOW CYTOMETER

THE PROPOSED SBIR PHASE I EFFORT IS TO DESIGN, DEVELOP, AND EVALUATE A STOPPED-FLOW SORTING CYTOMETER. THIS SYSTEM WILLBE BASED ON CYTO FLUIDICS' PATENTED "FLUID TRANSISTOR" WHICH ALLOWS MICROFABRICATION OF FLUID CONTROL VALVES IN SIZES AND DENSITIES AT THE LIMITS OF CURRENT LITHOGRAPHIC METHODS (2 UM). IN THE PROPOSED STUDY, CFI WILL TEST THE FEASIBILITY OF UTILIZING THIS NEW TECHNOLOGY TO CREATE "ON CHIP" SYSTEMS OF CAPILLARY CHANNELS AND HIGH-SPEED MICROVALVES TO CONTROL THE FLOW (POSITION) OF PARTICLES AND CELLS. THE PRIMARY AIMS OF PHASE I WILL BE: (1) TO DECREASE VALVE CYCLE TIMES SO AS TO INCREASE THE CELL SORTING RATE, (2) TO OPTIMIZE THE GEOMETRY OF THE MICRO-MACHINED FLOW CHANNELS TO MINIMIZE TURBULENCE AND CELL STRESS, AND (3) TO EVALUATE THE STOPPED-FLOW SORTING SYSTEM USING PARTICLES AND CELLS. USING DESIGN CRITERIA ESTABLISHED IN PHASE I, THE PHASE II OBJECTIVE WOULD BE TO CREATE AN INEXPENSIVE FLOW CYTOMETER. CFI'S UNIQUE TECHNOLOGY COULD MAKE POSSIBLE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF FUNCTIONS SUCH AS THE REAL-TIME INTRODUCTION OF REAGENTS INTO THE SINGLE CELL ENVIRONMENT, SECONDARY SORTING, HIGH SPEED ANALYSIS USING PARALLEL FLOW CHANNELS, AND THE COMBINATION OF FLOW CYTOMETRY AND HIGH RESOLUTION IMAGE ANALYSIS.