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Flow Cytometry and Epigenomics Understandably a decade ago many researchers began a quest for ever more selective and sensitive methods of cell counting as was understood to be required for oncology and cures for certain types of cancers. Locally a company known as Molecular Reflections was conceived for just such a purpose under the watchful eye of certain progenitors of the biotech industry here in San Diego, notably Ms. Tina Nova. What Planarity realized early on was that the barriers of 30 um and pico molar concentration levels had to be broken to gain a true foothold in understanding cancer dynamics and pharmacological compound efficacy. To that end certain of our staff began an academic journey into what might be possible in order to solve this barrier problem. Along the way alliances were made with the NIH, certain research medical institutions and the John Moores Cancer Center. To accomplish timeliness and cost effective measures another alliance was formed with the Myelin Repair Foundation which represented the first non profit based entrepreneurial attack on a disease. Finally we at Planarity sought very specifically to foster support for new and upcoming technologies we considered critical to our success and in so doing became founding strategic board members of www.nanotechnologyresearchfoundation.org which positioned us with the Nano Engineering department of UCSD and national community based support networks such as the Leukemia and Lymphoma Societies of North America. This resulted in our first global alliance, developed with the Nanotechnology consortium between the United States and Israel. Prior Art Intellectual property searches revealed technologies capable of improving the resolut ion of flow cytometry. One resulted from cascaded gas centrifuges which created aerodynamic separation methods for isolating isotopes of uranium by the South African government. A more recent re-design of this same invention occurred at the University of Maryland and was accomplished in monolithic planar MEMS structures. Aerodynamic Centrifugation: The principle of mass separation by aerodynamics allows for something called a Stat ionary Walled Mass Centrifuge which accomplishes its end goal by semi-helical forces which constrain mass movement, direction and speed. This was compared to traditional TOF Mass Spectrometers and Rotational Centrifuges in efficiency, performance Hydrodynamic Focusing: Particular to Flow Cytometry and methods of improving performance is hydrodynamic foc using. It too uses a semi-helical mechanism to constrain mass movement, direction and speed. Injection of a secondary and faster moving fluid coaxially about the sample fluid stream introduces an artificial boundary layer about which laminar flowing liquids and their contained masses can slip. It was at this point that Planarity engineers, scientists and medical researchers saw an opportunity for our technology. Monolithic Airfoils Noting that airfoils innately produce differential velocities, Planarity began to res earch the possibility of using the best ideas of aerodynamic gas centrifugation and hydrodynamic focusing but suggesting they be combined in a MEMS chip. The result was a trellis of such airfoils (numbering in the thousands) arranged to process fluids in both convex and concave patterns much like Error Correction algorithmic graphs. Each nodal airfoil bifurcates the stream into high and low mass fractions. The nodes grow binomially as continued further bifurcations are possible across the grid field like a wave. The concept of travelling waves was introduced by Planarity engineers in an intentional symmetric taper design which we thought would perform planar hydrodynamic (self) focusing. Commercialization Planarity designs MEMS solutions to problems to affect a scale of economy that will n ot prevent our product's introduction to the health care market. We are currently looking for bright students and seasoned technologists in achieving our goal of a prototype chip. In the time required to read this prospectus almost ten people succumbed to cancer, Planarity more than anything wants to stop this statistic. Summary |