Imagine trying to find a few specific needles in a giant haystack of blood. This technology acts like a smart sieve that catches rare cancer cells based on their size and shape while letting healthy cells pass through. It allows doctors to track how a tumor is behaving without needing a painful tissue biopsy.
Detecting rare circulating tumor cells (CTCs) is difficult due to their scarcity, often requiring complex sample pre-processing and resulting in low sensitivity and high user variability.
The RUBYchip™, a microfluidic device featuring a unique microfilter network for the automated isolation of viable CTCs based on size and deformability.
If you are an IVD manufacturer dealing with low sensitivity in liquid biopsies — this project developed the RUBYchip™ that isolates 70% of rare circulating tumor cells from a 7.5mL blood sample in less than 3 h. This allows for more accurate patient stratification and monitoring.
If you are a drug development firm dealing with the need for companion diagnostics to track drug resistance — this project developed a microfluidic device that keeps captured cells viable for functional analysis. This enables frequent monitoring of cancer progression in a cost-efficient way.
If you are a medical device company dealing with high user-dependence and variability in lab results — this project developed an automated analysis system that reduces inter-laboratory dependence. It ensures reproducible results through a unique microfilter network.
Based on available project data, specific pricing is not mentioned, though the technology is described as a cost-efficient way to monitor cancer progression.
The project is currently working on industrialization, specifically setting up requirements with foundries and subcontractors to ensure compliance with ISO13485 regulations.
The technology is protected by a proprietary microfluidic-based liquid biopsy device under patent PCT/EP2016/078406.
The industrialization process is being designed to ensure compliance with ISO13485 regulations for medical devices.
The project period is from 2022-08-01 to 2025-12-31.
The project is led by a single Portuguese SME, RUBYnanomed LDA. This lean structure indicates a high level of control over the IP and a direct path to commercialization, though they rely on external foundries and subcontractors for industrial scale-up.
Contact RUBYnanomed LDA in Portugal regarding the RUBYchip™
Contact us to explore licensing opportunities for the RUBYchip™ technology.
