I-Corps: High Efficiency Rapid Magnetic Erythrocyte Separator

Cornell University, Ithaca NY

Investigators

Abstract

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to enable the decentralization of diagnostic blood testing. Existing point-of-care clinics are limited to a narrow range of diagnostic capabilities as they currently do not possess simple methods to perform blood-plasma separation. High Efficiency Rapid Magnetic Erythrocyte Separator (H.E.R.M.E.S) offers a highly efficient solution to meet the needs of sample processing in point-of-care environments and its commercialization will enable the translation of existing diagnostic tests from traditional labs to more accessible clinical settings. Access to rapid sample processing capabilities will also ensure retention of sample integrity and reduce the incidences of inaccurate diagnosis that may result from poor sample storage. Further, H.E.R.M.E.S is highly suitable to integrate into the healthcare infrastructure of resource-limited settings as it can provide low-cost sample processing capabilities. Successful deployment will result in an increased accessibility to testing services and will potentially allow point-of-care clinics to capture a greater percentage of the blood-testing market This I-Corps project explores the commercial potential of a translational method to perform blood-plasma separation. H.E.R.M.E.S uses magnetic bead-based separation to obtain plasma free of red blood cells in a short amount of time. H.E.R.M.E.S is a low-cost and standalone platform that has the potential to augment the testing efficiency and translational ability of existing blood-based diagnostic tests. H.E.R.M.E.S will address the lack of availability of low-cost and efficient sample processing technologies; a barrier that prevents existing point-of-care clinics from offering in-house blood testing services. Current experiments show that H.E.R.M.E.S offers performance similar to that of a centrifuge (near 100% plasma purity) at a fraction of the time and cost (process time of 2 minutes at less than $2 per test). The underlying research complements ongoing work in developing point-of-care medical technologies to perform diagnostic testing in the field. The technology utilizes inexpensive raw materials that are readily available, and the process flow has been designed to ensure semi-autonomous operation ? key factors that indicate favorable scale-up potential. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.