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Stem Cell Related Patent Number US6838056
| Title: | Method and apparatus for sorting biological cells with a MEMS device | | Inventors: | Foster, John Stuart; Santa Barbara, CA, USA | | Summary: | Described herein is a cell sorting chip. The invention comprises a micromechanical actuator for sorting hematopoietic stem cells from fluid, such that the apparatus contains a fabrication substrate, a driven unit mounted to the substrate, an optically transparent layer with channels, and an actuating unit which directs the fluid in the substrate. The actuator is described as operating via the diversion of cells into one of a number of possible pathways fabricated in the fabrication substrate of the micromechanical actuator, whenever fluorescence is detected emanating from the cells, which is the result of irradiating the cells with laser light, thereby exciting a fluorescent tag attached to the cell. Further described are means by which the micromechanical actuator sorts the cells individually, with an operation rate of 3.3 kHz, even though a throughput of 3.3 million events/second is achievable with the massively parallel 1024-fold device described herein. Therapeutic applications in the treatment of cancer are included. | | Abstract: | A micromechanical actuator for sorting hematopoietic stem cells for use in cancer therapies. The actuator operates by diverting cells into one of a number of possible pathways fabricated in the fabrication substrate of the micromechanical actuator, when fluorescence is detected emanating from the cells. The fluorescence results from irradiating the cells with laser light, which excites a fluorescent tag attached to the cell. The micromechanical actuator thereby sorts the cells individually, with an operation rate of 3.3 kHz, however with the massively parallel 1024-fold device described herein, a throughput of 3.3 million events/second is achievable. | | US Patent Website: | Click Here for Full Text of Patent | | Title Number: | US6838056 | | Application Number: | US2002000189607 | | Date Filed: | 08/07/2002 | | Date Published: | 04/01/2005 | | Assignee: | Innovative Micro Technology, Goleta, CA, USA |
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