DIMID · Development of an Innovative Microfluidic Impedance-based Device for multi-parametric cell analysis

Cell analysis has become an important technique and represents a fast growing market for a wealth of applications in the fields of life sciences, medicine, food and environmental analytics. While clinical (diagnostic) and research applications in the healthcare and drug discovery markets demand rather complex analyses at the single cell level, routine and quality control applications in food analytics and bioprocess monitoring require simpler, quick and cheap analyses, which work more at the cell population level and provide only low-content average values instead of high-content single cell data. Many routine and quality control applications, however, would enormously profit from a higher information content of the analysis and make various processes at research and production levels more effective.This will lead to the first low-cost, portable impedance-based microfluidic cytometer equipped with disposable chips, which will enable a range of new analyses and diagnostic approaches that can be performed simply and quickly, without the use of a centralised resource. The system will rely upon the availability of highly accurate and specific disposable microfluidic chips, an high speed electronic control unit and a signal processing software which will allow to timely and accurately retrieve multiparametric information on the analysed sample.""