Umbel Microchip, a microfluidic-based blood analyzer

Grant Agency:  New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development
Grant Type: Innovation and Research Fellowship Program (IRFP)
Amount: $115,000
Principal Investigators: Robert Harper & Shima Dalirirad
Disease Indication: Blood Analyzer

Overview
The Innovation and Research Fellowship Program (IRFP) grant funds are provided to support technological research for New Jersey’s innovation ecosystem and to encourage Ph.D. graduates to continue their research in fellowship with New Jersey’s science and technology companies.

In Vitro Diagnostics proposes the development of a microfluidic chip, named as Umbel Microchip. The chip is intended to provide metabolic analysis methods that: require small volumes of blood, can measure analytes in parallel, are accurate, reliable, and cost-effective, for the determination of the Comprehensive Metabolic Panel with the inclusion of key metabolites, not offered in other commercially available blood analyzers. The integration of microfluidics into POC diagnostics has tremendous potential in improving healthcare by providing inexpensive, rapid and simple-to-use diagnostic devices. During development, a pre-submission shall be sent to the US FDA to agree on the appropriate studies to allow swift market clearance.