You are here

Respiratory Endothelial Cell Sensor for Real-Time Air Toxicity Monitoring

Award Information
Agency: Department of Defense
Branch: Army
Contract: W81XWH-04-C-0043
Agency Tracking Number: A032-3868
Amount: $120,000.00
Phase: Phase I
Program: SBIR
Solicitation Topic Code: A03-160
Solicitation Number: 2003.2
Timeline
Solicitation Year: 2003
Award Year: 2004
Award Start Date (Proposal Award Date): 2003-12-12
Award End Date (Contract End Date): 2004-06-16
Small Business Information
P.O. Box 80010
Austin, TX 78708
United States
DUNS: 022552900
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: No
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: Yes
Principal Investigator
 Theresa Curtis
 Staff Scientist
 (607) 272-0002
 tcurtis@agavebio.com
Business Contact
 Noe Salazar
Title: President
Phone: (512) 671-1369
Email: nsalazar@agavebio.com
Research Institution
N/A
Abstract

Because endothelial cells organize to form a tight barrier under normal conditions, several electrical devices have been used to measure the electrical resistance of endothelial cell monolayers. An Electric Cell-substrate Impedance Sensing (ECIS) system can measure the electrical impedance of endothelial cell monolayers on gold electrodes in real-time. This system is extremely sensitive to any changes in the integrity of the endothelial cell barrier and therefore would make an ideal biosensor to detect changes in endothelial cell "health" after exposure to a broad range of chemical and biological warfare agents. Although this device has been used for several years to assess endothelial cell monolayer integrity after exposure to a variety of agents, to date this system has not been exploited for development as an airborne toxin biosensor. We believe such a novel system could be developed by integrating current ECIS systems with respiratory endothelial cells, microfluidics, and air sampling technology. In this Phase I, Agave BioSystems proposes to adapt ECIS technology for detection of airborne chemical and biological agents using respiratory endothelial cells as a broad and highly sensitive detector, state-of the art air samplers for monitoring the environment, and microfluidic technology for continuous delivery of samples to the biosensor.

* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *

US Flag An Official Website of the United States Government