Cytometry (the measurement of the characteristics of cells including their concentration in a sample) is essential to clinical diagnostics, biotechnology, food industry, water monitoring and many other fields of research. Within the ERC Starting Grant "InstantCount", inkjet printing methods have been developed, which allow us to rapidly fabricate cell counting chambers with on-chip sample preparation at low cost, simplifying cell counting procedures tremendously. By effectively eliminating all sample preparation steps and efficient usage of reagents CyPod promises low-cost, simple, rapid cell counting, including mobile applications. The fabrication by inkjet printing also enables us to offer fast, tailor-made solutions.
Within this PoC project "CyPod", we have evaluated different commercialization pathways of the printed cell counting chips and the underlying technology that was developed within the Starting Grant "InstantCount".
The market study identified several promising fields of application besides the initially targeted medical field, including biological/biomedical/pharmaceutical research labs and several branches within the food industry. Potential users and experts in the respective fields were identified, contacted and interviewed. While the general interest in our approach was very high, the potential hurdles, e.g. with respect to the acceptance of new techniques within the different fields, as well as acceptable cost per test remained somewhat unclear, especially when our solution would not be a 1-to-1 replacement of existing solutions. Clear business opportunities exist in the smaller market segment serving research labs, where our approach can simplify current procedures significantly, while at the same time reducing cost.
Technically, we have demonstrated that our approach is well compatible with many established cell staining techniques besides immunofluorescent staining. We tested a variety of combinations of release matrices and staining agents and realized excellent on-chip DNA staining as well as on-chip viability staining in various types of sample media, which allows to simplify current standard procedures in many applications. The identification of a release matrix that is well-suited to combine the release of antibodies with several common DNA stains opens a variety of possibilities.
