I-Corps: In-vitro tool that provides multiparametric information in real-time to determine the efficacy and toxicity of a new drug

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is in improving the development of more effective drug treatments (e.g., therapeutics or regenerative medicine approaches) for diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and stroke. This device provides the necessary information to determine, at an early stage in the drug development, if the new product will provide sufficient gain or benefit.

It is expected that this technology will simplify data processing while providing a high quality, cost-effective, and time-efficient approach. This approach will free material resources and personnel that can be devoted to the development of new products. The advantages of this new system will reduce the time for new products to reach the marketplace while helping to provide higher efficacy treatments for cancer and other diseases with less toxic side effects.

This I-Corps project will provide a new in vitro tool with the capability of gathering information on multiple parameters to determine the efficacy and toxicity of new drugs. This technology provides the means for collecting data on cell responses to (bio)chemical and physical stimuli continuously and in real-time. Contrary to many conventional detection methods that rely on collecting data at the end of the experiment (endpoint), this system collects data continuously, providing a dynamic account of cell responses with a reduced number of samples.

This technology will also leverage continuous access to cell behavior data to enable the development of a data analytics approach for impedance spectroscopy-type measurements. The development of this research tool into a more automated system will broaden its impact and acceptance not only in the biopharmaceutical industry but also in academic and biomedical environments and the biotechnology industry.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.