| PROPOSAL NUMBER: | 02-II B2.03-7965 (For NASA Use Only - Chron: 024034 ) |
| PHASE-I CONTRACT NUMBER: | NAS9-03009 |
| SUBTOPIC TITLE: | Understanding and Utilizing Gravitational Effects on Molecular Biology and for Medical Applications |
| PROPOSAL TITLE: | Cytometer on a Chip |
SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN:
(Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Ciencia, Inc.
111 Roberts Street, Suite K
East Hartford , CT 06108 - 3653
(860 ) 528 - 9737
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER:
(Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Salvador M. Fernandez
fernandez@ciencia.com
111 Roberts Street, Suite K
East Hartford , CT 06108 - 3665
(860 ) 528 - 9737
TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The Cytometer on a Chip will provide a powerful alternative to conventional flow cytometry. This system spatially sorts cells on a microarray chip based on the presence of specific cell surface markers. Detection is accomplished with grating-coupled surface plasmon resonance imaging (GCSPRI). This is a label-free detection technology that eliminates the need to fluorescently label the cells, as is necessary with conventional flow cytometry. This innovation will reliably measure cellular composition while avoiding the limitations of traditional flow cytometry. Since the cells are run over the chip surface, there is no requirement for the stringent optical alignments that are so essential to fluorescence-based cytometry. Moreover, the system does not require the narrow orifice of the flow cell that is used by most traditional cytometers, so is far less susceptible to clogging or to flow disturbances caused by accumulation of adsorbed proteins or air bubbles. Finally, it eliminates the complexity, mass and power associated with laser and detection systems traditionally used in flow cytometry. These features, and the fact that the technology is amenable to miniaturization and low power operation, make the cytometer on a chip system ideally suited to the assessment of immune function in space and to cost-effective, rapid, on site clinical diagnostics.
POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The Cytometer on a Chip addresses NASA?s needs for instrumentation and methods for assessment of immune function during long-term space flight, for the analysis of cell architecture and function in space, and for the assessment of cellular composition in rotating vessel bioreactor cultures. These are high priorities for NASA?s research programs in space biology, medicine and biotechnology.
POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The cytometer on a chip presents a number of unique benefits, which should have considerable commercial value in the life sciences research market as well as in clinical diagnostics. It is not difficult to envision an eventual implementation of the cytometer on a chip with a portable, inexpensive, hand-held device for performing sophisticated immune function profiling on site (e.g., bedside) at very low cost, with immediate results. Potential applications include oncology, hematology, autoimmune diseases, HIV/AIDS research and diagnostics, stem cell and gene therapy, and prenatal genetics. Non-clinical potential applications include drug discovery research, livestock selection and new crop development, food diagnostics and biological defense. These potential commercial applications represent substantial market opportunities.