|
Santa Barbara, CA, 26 September 2005
Innovative Micro Technology
(IMT) announced today that it has passed several key milestones
and demonstrated integrated operation with its Rare Cell Purification
System (RCPS), including sorting viable human cells at high speeds
with greater than 95% purity. The RCPS is based on microelectromechanical
systems (MEMS) technology which, in its final configuration, will
have parallel channels providing ample speed for clinical use. Using
fluorescence detection to identify the proper cells, ultra-high-speed
MEMS valves switch flow from waste to sort and vice versa in 15
microseconds. Anticipated applications include cancer treatment,
nuclear and chemical warfare risk abatement, and disease control.
The RCPS is currently funded by the DARPA Defense
Sciences Office as an integral part of the DARPA project to create
an artificial human immune system on a chip. The high speed sorter
will allow population of the chip-scale system with very specific
types of immune cells. The payoff will be a very rapid, chip-scale
device to screen new vaccines against biological warfare agents
and emerging pathogens.
According to Dr. John Foster, IMT's CEO, "Using
MEMS technology, we can significantly improve cell purification
processing. We are excited about our achievements thus far and are
now accelerating our work to produce working systems for field trials
by our partners. This is our next step toward commercializing this
enabling technology for treating patients with cell therapy."
Added Dr. John Harley, IMT's Program Manager for
the RCPS, "The extremely high speed of our system is not the
only advantage it brings to cell purification. The fact that the
entire fluid path is sterile and completely disposable makes it
very attractive for clinical applications. The RCPS we are developing
is a robust chip-based system that can dramatically reduce the cost
of cell therapy while increasing its availability. We see vast potential
for this technology in defense, homeland security, healthcare and
general biomedical applications."
The content of the information does not necessarily
reflect the position or the policy of the Government, and no official
endorsement should be inferred.
|
