{"id":"07704","slug":"cilia-on-a-chip-high--07704","source":{"id":"07704","dataset":"techtransfer","title":"Cilia-on-a-Chip: High-Throughput Functional Readout of Brain Ciliary Flow for Hydrocephalus Drug Discovery","description_":"<p>This is an integrated tissue-harvest, fluorescence-imaging, and image-analysis system that measures how well the cilia lining the brain’s ventricles drive fluid flow. It turns ciliary beating into quantitative, physics-based flow metrics that can be run at scale to support drug discovery for hydrocephalus and other ciliary disorders.</p><p><h2>Description</h2>Unmet Need - Existing cilia-analysis tools measure the structure of cilia or track particles, but do not provide explainable, physics-based measures of ependymal ciliary function at the throughput that drug discovery and diagnostics require.\r<br>\r<br>The system begins with a method for harvesting periventricular brain tissue so that the ventricular cilia keep beating. Fluorescent beads are added to the ciliary surface, and the cilia-driven bead movement is recorded in real time with high-speed fluorescence video microscopy. Many short videos can be captured across the ventricle wall and stitched into a whole-ventricle flow map.\r<br>\r<br>A custom image-processing algorithm then detects each bead and tracks its movement. It uses particle image velocimetry (PIV), which converts bead motion into dense flow-vector fields, and from these computes physics-based metrics such as flow velocity and angular momentum. This links the bead movement patterns to the underlying ciliary function. The automated bead segmentation was checked against manual ground-truth segmentation using Dice score comparison.</p><p><h2>Applications</h2>- High-throughput in vitro screening of drug candidates that target ciliary function\r<br>- Preclinical research tools for hydrocephalus and other ciliary or CSF-flow disorders\r<br>- Functional phenotyping of genetic and injury-based animal models (for example, mitochondrial dysfunction or traumatic brain injury models)\r<br>- Contract research and service offerings for ciliary and CSF-dynamics analysis\r<br>- A basis for future diagnostic assays of ciliary function</p><p><h2>Advantages</h2>- Directly measures ciliary function rather than only cilia structure or shape\r<br>- Produces dense flow fields and physics-based metrics (velocity, angular momentum) with a clear biological interpretation\r<br>- Preserves live ciliary beating in harvested ventricular tissue\r<br>- Automated detection and tracking of beads, validated against manual segmentation\r<br>- Designed for high-throughput use, with whole-ventricle flow maps built from many imaging fields</p><p><h2>Invention Readiness</h2>The full pipeline (tissue harvest, fluorescence acquisition, and image-analysis software) has been built and is working. In vitro data have been generated from hundreds of flow videos per mouse lateral ventricle. Automated segmentation agreed well with manual ground truth, and the quantitative analysis detected a significant reduction in average flow velocity and angular momentum in hydrocephalus-associated mouse models compared with wild-type mice. Further studies are needed to extend the approach to additional disease models and to higher-throughput formats, to test it with candidate compounds, and to explore its use for diagnostic applications.</p><p><h2>IP Status</h2>Copyright</p><p></p>","tags":["Microscopy","Algorithm"],"file_number":"07704","collections":[{"key":517,"name":"Cardiometabolic"}],"meta_description":"Cilia-on-a-Chip quantifies brain fluid flow from ciliary beating, enabling high-throughput hydrocephalus drug discovery.","image_url":"","apriori_judge_output":"{\"scores\":{\"novelty\":4.0,\"potential_impact\":4.0,\"readiness\":3.0,\"scalability\":3.0,\"timeliness\":2.0},\"weighted_score\":3.2,\"risks\":[\"TRL 3 prototype; needs validation across models and scale-up for HTS; potential regulatory/QA considerations for clinical translation not yet addressed\",\"paths to revenue/market access need clarity; diagnostic use speculation\"],\"one_sentence_take\":\"Strong novelty with a solid HTS-readout capability, but readiness and timeliness lag terminology and market conferrals; requires broader validation and defined go-to-market plan to reach commercial impact.\"}","lead_inventor_name":"Yijen Wu","lead_inventor_dept":"Med-Pediatrics","technology_type":"Life Science Research Tool","therapeutic_areas":["Neuroscience","Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases"],"therapeutic_indications":["Mitochondrial Disease"],"custom_tags":[],"all_tech_innovators":["Devin Raine Everaldo Cortes","Anurag Kulkarni","Catherine Perez","Yijen Wu"],"date_submitted":"2026-07-29","technology_readiness_level":"3. Prototype development"},"highlight":{},"matched_queries":null,"score":0.0}