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Microfluidic Applications for Disposable Diagnostics
Published on: February 3, 2008
Microfluidic strategies applied to biomarker discovery and validation for multivariate diagnostics
Theodore M Tarasow1, Laura Penny, Anil Patwardhan
1Tethys Bioscience, 5858 Horton Street, Emeryville, CA 94608, USA. ttarasow@tethysbio.com
Bioanalysis
|October 12, 2011
Summary
Developing multibiomarker protein tests for complex diseases like Type 2 diabetes is challenging. A microfluidics approach analyzing 89 proteins enabled rapid development of a risk stratification test.
Area of Science:
- Biomarker discovery
- Proteomics
- Diagnostic assay development
Background:
- Complex diseases arise from multiple factors, necessitating advanced diagnostic tools.
- Multibiomarker tests offer advantages over single-marker tests for early disease detection.
- Current protein-based multibiomarker test development faces technological and operational hurdles.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a multibiomarker protein-based test for stratifying Type 2 diabetes risk.
- To overcome limitations in assaying numerous proteins in large sample cohorts.
Main Methods:
- Employed a candidate-driven immunoassay strategy.
- Utilized a microfluidics platform for high-throughput analysis.
- Analyzed 89 candidate proteins across thousands of samples.
Main Results:
- Successfully transitioned from biomarker discovery to a commercial test within two years.
- Demonstrated the feasibility of a microfluidics-based approach for multibiomarker analysis.
Conclusions:
- Microfluidics platforms are crucial for advancing multibiomarker test development.
- Future progress hinges on improving protein analysis capacity, sensitivity, throughput, and sample volume efficiency.
- Continued advancements in microfluidics, detection technologies, and reagents are essential for next-generation diagnostics.
