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Samuel K. Sia, assistant professor of biomedical engineering atColumbia Engineering, has developed an innovative strategy for anintegrated microfluidic-based diagnostic device - in effect, alab-on-a-chip - that can perform complex laboratory assays, and doso with such simplicity that these tests can be carried out in themost remote regions of the world. In a paper published in Nature Medicine online on July 31, Sia presents the first published field resultson how microfluidics - the manipulation of small amounts of fluids- and nanoparticles can be successfully leveraged to produce afunctional low-cost diagnostic device in extreme resource-limitedsettings. Sia and his team performed testing in Rwanda over the last fouryears in partnership with Columbia's Mailman School of PublicHealth and three local non-government organizations in Rwanda,targeting hundreds of patients. His device, known as mChip (mobilemicrofluidic chip), requires only a tiny finger prick of blood,effective even for a newborn, and gives - in less than 15 minutes -quantitative objective results that are not subject to userinterpretation. This new technology significantly reduces the timebetween testing patients and treating them, providing medicalworkers in the field results that are much easier to read at a muchlower cost. New low-cost diagnostics like the mChip couldrevolutionize medical care around the world. "We have engineered a disposable credit card-sized device that canproduce blood-based diagnostic results in minutes," said Sia. "Theidea is to make a large class of diagnostic tests accessible topatients in any setting in the world, rather than forcing them togo to a clinic to draw blood and then wait days for their results." Sia's lab at Columbia Engineering has developed the mChip devicesin collaboration with Claros Diagnostics Inc., a venturecapital-backed startup that Sia co-founded in 2004. (The companyhas recently been named by MIT's Technology Review as one of the 50most innovative companies in the world.) The microchip inside thedevice is formed through injection molding and holds miniatureforms of test tubes and chemicals; the cost of the chip is about $1and the entire instrument about $100. Sia hopes to use the mChip to help pregnant women in Rwanda who,while they may be suffering from AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases, cannot be diagnosed with anycertainty because they live too far away from a clinic or hospitalwith a lab. "Diagnosis of infectious diseases is very important inthe developing world," said Sia. "When you're in these villages,you may have the drugs for many STDs, but you don't know who togive treatments to, so the challenge really comes down todiagnostics." A version of the mChip that tests for prostate cancer has also been developed by Claros Diagnostics and was approved in2010 for use in Europe. Sia's work also focuses on developing new high-resolution tools tocontrol the extracellular environments around cells, in order tostudy how they interact to form human tissues and organs. His labuses techniques from a number of different fields, includingbiochemistry, molecular biology, microfabrication, microfluidics,materials chemistry, and cell and tissue biology. Notes: Sia was named one of the world's top young innovators for 2010 byMIT's Technology Review for his work in biotechnology and medicine,and by NASA as one of 10 innovators in human health andsustainability. In 2008, he received a CAREER award from theNational Science Foundation that included a $400,000 grant tosupport his other research specialty in three-dimensional tissueengineering. A recipient of the Walter H. Coulter Early CareerAward in 2008, Sia participated in the National Academy ofEngineering's U.S. Frontiers of Engineering symposium for thenation's brightest young engineers in 2007. He earned his B.Sc. inbiochemistry from the University of Alberta, and his Ph.D. inbiophysics from Harvard University, where he was also apostdoctoral fellow in chemistry and chemical biology. The mChip project has been supported by funding from the NationalInstitutes of Health and Wallace Coulter Foundation. Additional References Citations. I am an expert from custom-textileprinting.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Decorative Pillow Fabric Manufacturer , Ladies Neck Scarves, Personalized Pillow Cases,and more.
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