Wonderful having Dr. Una Ryan, CEO of Diagnostics for All, join us for the FluidicMEMS gathering on February 13! Over 70 lab-on-a-chip folks from academia and industry gathered to mix, mingle, and hear Dr. Ryan speak about DFA’s development of paper microfluidics for global health.
Last month we had our biggest ever FluidicMEMS gathering of lab-on-a-chip folks as we heard Professor Robert Westervelt speak on programmable integrated circuit / microfluidic chips to manipulate biological cells and liquid droplets. Platforms like the one above could save time and money by automating resource-intensive biological tasks by individually trapping and moving large numbers of cells and droplets.
A PDMS microfluidic device for generation and dilution of two-dimensional combinatorial solution mixtures, integrated with a well array for cell storage and culture from the Khademhosseini lab at Harvard Medical School. See: http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2011/lc/c1lc20449a
Interesting article spotted by Mehmet Dokmeci in Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News on “Microfluidics Making Bigger Impression.” The article touches on commercialization and research trends, including the following themes:
Microfluidics could enable fundamentally new measurements at the cell/tissue level (not just faster, cheaper, or miniaturized versions of existing assays). In industry, this relates to what Fluidigm, CellAsic, and others are already doing.
“Dr. Manz believes there is growing interest and research on the use of microfluidic devices for cell-based studies. In contrast to the molecular diagnostics arena—in which “I have seen little that is revolutionary about microfluidics in the sense of obtaining fundamentally new information,” Dr. Manz points to new work from the fields of cell biology and tissue engineering.
Flurry of recent acquisitions is encouraging: There has definitely been a cluster of acquisitions over the past year, even more than mentioned in the article (e.g., Biocius acquisition by Agilent, Claros Diagnostics acquired by Opko). This may encourage more investment, fueling industry growth.
Expiration of patents may encourage commercial development: Manz argues that the expiration of key microfluidics patents should free up the commercialization process.
Move toward easier-to-use systems: One form of this is the rise of simpler, paper-based, readerless chips (e.g., Diagnostics for All, Paul Yager’s initiatives). Others are developing systems with all sensing and control integrated into a single, easier-to-use device.
In the world of microelectronics, standards are well-established and have helped the industry take off. Over the past few years, people have mentioned the idea of microfluidics standards more and more often, and the European microfluidics community has started discussing the issue. Are these beginning signs of industry growth and maturation?
The orientation, size, geometry, layout, and pitch of microfluidic ports has many variations. Establishing a standard in this area will allow for lower cost, greater automation, improved compatibility, and minimizing re-engineering.
Following their recent acquisition by Opko, Claros Diagnostics is hiring! There are two exciting openings for Project Leaders in Assay Development, as they are expanding the development of new assays on their platform.
This is a terrific opportunity for industry veterans or qualified individuals looking to enter industry. Check them out here and here at the job board!
Great to see ~50 new and familiar faces from the Boston/New England lab-on-a-chip community gathered the first FluidicMEMS event this fall on November 14th at MIT! Thanks to extraordinary co-organizers A.J. Kumar and Joost Bonsen. We were generously sponsored by the MIT Alumni Association (thanks Katie Mahoney!) and Zeta Instruments.
This time I shared some thoughts on commercialization, and many interesting and intense discussions were had by all. We’ve got some exciting events planned for the winter and spring, so drop us a line if you’re interested in hearing about future events.
Topics range widely, including BioMEMS, microfluidics for cell culture, CTC capture, implantable devices, biosensors, and tools for cell mechanics. Talks include:
Microfluidic Technology for Building and Handling 3D Tissue Structures. Shoji Takeuchi
Neuroscience on a Chip. Albert Folch
Multipurpose Microfluidic Probes: Dipoles, Quadrupoles and Electrochemical Sensors for Studies with Cells and Tissue. David Juncker
Microfluidics for Cell Sorting and Clinical Applications.Mehmet Toner
Immuno-Pillar Chips for Clinical Diagnosis.Manabu Tokeshi
Electrohydrodynamic Jet Printing for Hydrogel Cell Culture Substrates.Michael Poellmann, Kira L. Barton and Amy J. Wagoner Johnson
Toward a Lithographically Patterned Bio-Artificial Pancreas. Jaehyun Park, Yevgeniy V. Kalinin, Christina L. Randall and David H. Gracias
Microfabricated Polyester Microwell Device for Stem Cell Culture Experiments.Seila Selimovic, Francesco Piraino, Hojae Bae, Marco Rasponi, Alberto Redaelli and Ali Khademhosseini
Applications of Sensing and Actuation Materials in Medical Micro-Instruments.Yogesh Gianchandani
Quick video of Patrick Beattie from Diagnostics for All explaining how they’re using low-cost paper microfluidics to save lives at birth in the developing world. Specifically, DFA is developing a test for anemia and hyper/hypoglycemia, and a test for proteinuria to detect preeclampsia.
See other innovators working on saving lives at birth here and here.
Last week we heard more from Eileen Bartholomew of the XPRIZE Foundation about the anticipated 2012 announcement of the Tricorder XPRIZE. Named after the universal medical diagnostic from Star Trek, the device should allow consumers to diagnose themselves, enabling people to become “CEOs of their own health.” There’s a huge potential for microfluidics to be involved with a point-of-care device like this, especially since lab-on-a-chip systems could facilitate ease-of-use and require smaller sample volumes (e.g., a fingerprick of blood vs. a vial of blood that would need to be drawn by a professional).
Specs so far:
Usable by consumers without aid from medical professionals
Single device with the ability to diagnose 15 diseases: 12 core-set diseases + 3 elective-set diseases. Examples: Hypertension, urinary tract infection, sleep apnea, sexually transmitted illness (STI)
High precision
Diagnostic results within 3 days
Probably linked to a mobile device like a smartphone (note the contest is being underwritten by Qualcomm)
Timeline
Expected prize announcement in 2012
Duration of competition expected to be ~ 3.5 years long
Will the XPRIZE motivate existing companies to collaborate? Currently many are struggling to launch a test that outputs one or two results, never mind 15. I also wonder how the 15 diseases chosen will affect marketing for the device. What if you’re a relatively healthy person who only needs 3 out of the 15 functions? Would you pay more for an all-in-one device like this, or are you more likely to buy individual tests based on your needs? How much use will be symptom-driven (urinary tract infection) vs. long-term monitoring of a known condition (hypertension) vs. screening (STIs)?
Recently I ran across this Stanford video of Gajus Worthington, co-founder and CEO of Fluidigm. Recorded in 2004, it’s a behind-the-scenes snapshot of the early years of the company, after they’d launched their first products (in protein crystallization) in 2003. Over the past decade Fluidigm has gone from fundraising to becoming a public company with a 2010 revenue of $33.6 million.
One quote grabbed me:
“We did this wrong, if you read the textbooks. You’re supposed to figure out what the market opportunity is, then you’re supposed to go out and find technology, and build a team, and all that kind of stuff. Right. We didn’t do it that way.
We did it, classically, the way you’re not supposed to, which is you find a technology, you get obsessed with it, and you go running around trying to figure out what can I do with it. Well I submit to you that that’s the way most technology companies work.
That’s the way it worked with the laser, that’s the way with lots of other components. You have some kind of technology, you get a bunch of smart people who are obsessed with it. And ultimately they find something useful they can do with it. It’d be nice to do it the other way, but unfortunately I really don’t know of any examples where that has transpired. ” — Gajus Worthington, CEO of Fluidigm
I tried thinking of biomedical technology companies that started with a market opportunity first, and then developed solutions. I couldn’t come up with any in the microfluidics space. (Although it is hard to know the backstory behind how companies match product and market.) Do you have any examples of a team starting with a problem, evaluating a range of solutions (microfluidic and non-microfluidic), choosing to go with microfluidics, and then building a microfluidics team?
a blog about microfluidics and bioMEMS technologies and how they can help solve real-world problems. Written by Lily Kim, a biomedical-engineer-turned-technology-strategist, FluidicMEMS covers new developments fresh from academia as well as the process of bringing these technologies into the world.
