Abstract

Ultra-sensitive On-chip Isolation of Rare Cells and In-situ RNA Analysis for Cancer and TB Diagnostics

David Issadore, Assistant Professor, University of Pennsylvania

The transformative growth in microelectronics in the 20th century was fueled by the ability to simultaneously miniaturize and integrate complex circuits onto monolithic chips. My research aims to harness these same electrical engineering approaches, which have enabled the microelectronic revolution, to solve problems in medical diagnostics. To accomplish this goal my lab develops hybrid microchips, where microfluidics are built directly on top of semiconductor chips. On these chips, clinical samples (e.g. blood) are mixed with magnetic nanomaterials, which we design to target specific cells (such as cancer cells in blood)[2]. These nano particle labeled cells can then be measured with ultra-high sensitivity and throughput using arrays of micro-scale sensors built with semiconductor chip technology. On these hybrid chips, sparse biomarkers can be isolated and detected automatically without any laboratory processing, enabling these miniature diagnostics to be used to sensitively diagnose and monitor disease biomarkers in clinical settings. I will present work where we have designed chips, and through collaboration, apply these diagnostics for early detection of pancreatic cancer and the diagnosis of TB in patients underserved by current clinical standards (i.e. HIV co-infected).