Award Data

Current drug discovery and development programs are severely limited by the expensive animal trials and oversimplified in vitro models. Results obtained from the in vitro models are not predictive of in vivo toxicity owing to significant difference in testing from the in vivo physiological conditions. In this context, we propose to develop and demonstrate a novel microfluidic device for quantitati ...

Molecular biology techniques allow generating combinatorial libraries of large number of enzyme variants. However, there is currently no technology available for screening the enzyme libraries for identifying variants with improved activity for the substrate. We propose to develop a novel, microfluidic, high-throughput platform for determining kinetic constants of enzyme variants and identifying v ...

In order to satisfy the DOD and commercial needs for the detection and identification of chemical warfare agents, toxic industrial chemicals or biological compounds, we propose a compact, low-cost sensor based on the integration of HgCdTe photodiode detection technology with micro-opto-electromechanical systems (MOEMS) technology, which matches HgCdTe’s sensitivity with an inexpensive microscale ...

Chemical imaging sensors require focal plane arrays (FPAs) comprising long wavelength infrared (LWIR) detectors suitable for hyperspectral detection. These detectors require high sensitivity to account for the low photon counts in narrow wavelength bands. The required sensitivity elevates the associated costs, so a need exists for a lower cost LWIR FPA for use with chemical imaging sensors. The te ...

Organophosphorus (OP) compounds have been extensively used as pesticides and chemical warfare agents . Potential OPs exposure exists both on the battlefield and in the civilian sector. OPs exposure inhibits enzyme activity, allowing excess acetylcholine to accumulate. Screening of multiple enzymes is highly desirable because it may provide a comprehensive description of the warrior’s capacity fo ...

Rapid identification of asymmetric warfare modes, including unconventional chemical agents based attacks, is vital to the protection of U.S. armed forces personnel. Existing detection methods use bulky and expensive laboratory equipment to analytically determine the identity and concentration of chemical threats, negating their battlefield use. Colorimetric indicators such as the currently deploye ...

To address the CBD need for improved formulations to enhance the ease of use and bioavailability of antisense therapeutics, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a Multifunctional Antisense Therapeutics Nanocarrier and Inhalation Device (MATEN). This proposed system is based on a new dry powder formulation and a novel design of an inhaler that uses in-house developed mature compone ...

Impregnated ASZM-TEDA carbon employed as highly adsorptive materials in Collective Protection (ColPro) systems loses the ability to adsorb toxic chemicals because of exposure to temperature, humidity, battlefield contaminants, and other pollutants. To address the Chemical and Biological Defense (CBD) need for a residual life indicator (RLI) capable of probing the degradation in physical adsorption ...

To address the Chemical/Bio Defense (CBD) need for in vitro models suitable for high-throughput screening of drug toxicities in human tissues, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a new three-dimensional (3D) Microfluidic Platform for in-vitro Hematopoietic Stem Cell (HSC) Culture (3D-Mic-Stem). This proposed system is based on a 3D microfluidic design that uses HSCs for assaying ...

To address the U.S. Army/DTRA’s CBD program need for a robust screening process for use with large panels of enzymes to identify variants with higher affinity for organophosphorus (OP) substrates, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a Microfluidic Dielectrophoretic Screening (MDS) system. This proposed system is based on the new design of a microfluidic mixer, enzymatic reactor ...