Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
9.7
Conclusions and Outlook
As a novel biosensing platform, DMR offers many synergistic advantages over
traditional approaches, such as high detection sensitivity, multiplexed capability,
rapid measurement, and small sample volume requirement with minimal sample
processing. Indeed, DMR thrives through the complement of several cutting-
edge technologies, namely, magnetic nanomaterials, bioconjugation chemistry, and
microfabrication. With new developments such as chip-based NMR devices,
optimized magnetic nanoparticles, and advanced labeling techniques, the DMR
technology has proven itself as a robust and sensitive approach for quantitative
and molecular analyses for biomedical research. Moreover, our recent clinical trial
has confirmed that the DMR is capable of detecting and molecularly profiling cells
with minimal false negatives. Its remarkable performance and potential impact on
clinical disease management would no doubt accelerate the advance of personalized
treatment by providing valuable information on molecular signature of individual
patients.
We further envision broader application of the DMR in global healthcare.
The DMR technology does not require extensive sample purification and can
be packaged as a portable device. The system thus is well suited for rapid and
point-of-care (POC) testing, especially in resource-limited primary clinics where
majority of diagnoses are made based on physical symptoms only. Indeed, we plan
to evaluate the developed system for TB (tuberculosis) detection in fields. Success-
ful completion of this research will be a cornerstone for realizing POC technology
for TB detection, which will bring significant societal benefits worldwide.
Acknowledgements
We thank T. J. Yoon, J. H. Chung, J. B. Haun, and N. Sergeyev for
assistance with experiments and R. M. Westervelt (Harvard) and C. Castro (MGH) for many
helpful discussions. This work was supported in part by the following NIH grants: U54CA151884,
R01EB010011, R01EB004626, P01CA069246, P50CA86355, U01CA141556, U24CA092782,
and R21CA14122. H. Shao acknowledges financial support from the B.S.-Ph.D. National Science
Scholarship awarded by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Singapore.
References
1. R. Etzioni et al., The case for early detection. Nat. Rev. Cancer
3
, 243-252 (2003)
2. R. Fan et al., Integrated barcode chips for rapid, multiplexed analysis of proteins in microliter
quantities of blood. Nat. Biotechnol.
26
, 1373-1378 (2008)
3. D.A. Giljohann, and C.A. Mirkin, Drivers of biodiagnostic development. Nature
462
, 461-464
(2009)
4. M.M. Cheng et al., Nanotechnologies for biomolecular detection and medical diagnostics.
Curr. Opin. Chem. Biol.
10
, 11-19 (2006)
5. A.G. Tibbe et al., Optical tracking and detection of immunomagnetically selected and aligned
cells. Nat. Biotechnol.
17
, 1210-1213 (1999) 1999.
6. M.M. Wang et al., Microfluidic sorting of mammalian cells by optical force switching. Nat.
Biotechnol.
23
, 83-87 (2005)
