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View Printer Friendly           Home | Research | Fellowship and Award Opportunities | Betty Kim, MD

2008 Research Fellow Betty Kim, MD University of Toronto Integrated Nano-Platform for High-Throughput Multiplexed Detection of Pathogenic Biomarkers in Cerebrospinal Fluid In neurosurgery, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) infections related to shunts or external ventricular devices continue to be a major cause of morbidity and mortality. The accuracy and predictive values of current detection systems are suboptimal, often requiring multiple confirmatory assays and complex time-consuming purification techniques. By integrating nano- and microtechnology platforms, materials with unique physical properties arising from quantum size-effects can be used to develop small-scale devices for high-throughput multiplexed optical detection of CSF infections. Our overall aim is to develop a novel portable optical detection system by combining the unique fluorescence properties of semiconductor nanocrystals with microfluidics that can detect infectious agents using nanoliter sample volumes with projected sensitivity beyond the picomolar range.