I-Corps: Rapid, low-cost, microfluidic chips for molecular point-of-care diagnostics

I-Corps：用于分子即时诊断的快速、低成本微流控芯片

• 批准号: 1743287
• 负责人: Rhonda Shrader
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: University of California-Berkeley
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-06-15 至 2018-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1743287&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Corps; Rapid; low; cost; microfluidic

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of simple and low-cost point-of-care microfluidic molecular (DNA/RNA) tests that are designed to be used in decentralized or low-resource settings. Currently, point-of-care tests for infectious diseases are predominately done in a paper dipstick format. Although these dipstick tests are inexpensive, they have limited sensitivity. As an alternative, the most sensitive detection method entails DNA/RNA detection by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), however PCR testing often requires time-consuming manual steps and costly equipment. Because of its cost, PCR is generally confined to centralized laboratories, so front-line decentralized clinics can suffer days to weeks of delay in testing results because samples need to be sent out for testing. Low-cost nucleic acid detection is desirable for point-of-care diagnostics; The availability of an on-site molecular tests will give doctors a powerful tool to confirm diagnosis of infectious diseases and allow faster treatment with higher sensitivity. This project will help confirm the best product-market strategy to deploy the technology, and guide the development of devices that makes positive impact for better patient management, increased accessibility to molecular testing, and a faster response to epidemics.This I-Corps project is based on several patented microfluidic technologies developed for on-site nucleic acid detection. The microfluidic chip is designed to reduce molecular testing setup costs by 100X. The key technologies include vacuum based self-powered microfluidic chips that do not require any costly equipment often necessary seen in conventional microfluidic setups (such as external pumps, controllers, valves, or power sources). This allows the microfluidic test to be a fraction of the cost compared to conventional microfluidics. The vacuum technology also makes the microfluidic chips fully portable and easily transportable, which is ideal for decentralized point-of-care use. It was also possible to perform sample preparation with the vacuum based microfluidic technology. Using this vacuum based microfluidic platform, it is possible for rapid quantitative digital nucleic acid detection of drug resistant bacteria DNA directly from human blood samples within 30 minutes. These technical features are important building blocks for building autonomous, portable, lab-on-chip technologies for a future generation of low-cost molecular diagnostic assays.

该I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发简单和低成本的微流体分子（DNA/RNA）测试，该测试旨在用于分散或低资产设置。当前，传染病的即时检查测试主要以纸质量格式进行。尽管这些量强壮的测试价格便宜，但灵敏度有限。作为替代方案，最敏感的检测方法需要通过聚合酶链反应（PCR）进行DNA/RNA检测，但是PCR测试通常需要耗时的手动步骤和昂贵的设备。由于其成本，PCR通常仅限于集中实验室，因此前线分散诊所可能会遭受数天至数周的测试结果延迟，因为需要将样品发送出去进行测试。低成本的核酸检测是需要用于护理点诊断的；现场分子测试的可用性将为医生提供一种强大的工具，以确认诊断感染性疾病的诊断并允许更快的敏感性治疗。该项目将有助于确认部署该技术的最佳产品市场策略，并指导设备的开发，这些设备对更好的患者管理，提高分子测试的可访问性以及对流行病的更快响应。该I-Corps项目基于几种专利的微富集技术，用于对现场核酸检测产生。微流体芯片旨在将分子测试设置成本降低100倍。关键技术包括基于真空的自动微流体芯片，这些芯片不需要在常规的微流体设置（例如外部泵，控制器，阀门或电源）中经常看到的任何昂贵设备。与传统的微流体相比，这使微流体测试是成本的一​​小部分。真空技术还使微流体芯片完全可移植且易于运输，这是分散式护理点的理想选择。也可以使用基于真空的微流体技术进行样品制备。 使用这个基于真空的微流体平台，可以在30分钟内直接从人类血液样品中快速定量的数字核酸检测。这些技术功能是建立自主，便携式，芯片实验室技术的重要组成部分，用于未来的低成本分子诊断测定法。