Biocartis’ DMAT Platform
Late last year, Biocartis began shipping its first commercial product. The biomarker detection platform utilizes the company’s Dynamic Multi-Analyte Technology (DMAT), allowing users to measure 2,000 analytes simultaneously.
Most technologies cannot measure nucleic acids and proteins simultaneously, so different technologies or systems are required, said Allison Ballmer, global marketing manager for the DMAT platform. The DMAT platform allows the user to simultaneously analyze DNA, RNA and miRNA, as well as peptides and antibodies. Using the same platform, the biomarkers of interest can be selected from the sample as well as analyzed.
DMAT utilizes semiconductor technology to fabricate silicon-based, disc-like microparticles. An antibody or peptide is added to the microparticle, creating a capture molecule complex, which is then added to a 16-channel microfluidic cartridge. The sample is loaded and analytes detected using a surface-binding fluorophore. Activities inside the cartridge are controlled by an instrument, which also features an optical system that can capture fluorescence images.
Typical technologies for measuring peptides or antibodies involve multiple processing steps, involving washing, incubation and pipetting, said Ms. Ballmer. DMAT reduces the number of variables by having the reaction and detection happen simultaneously inside the microfluidic cartridge, she explained. “Because we use microfluidics, it allows our assay times to be faster and gives us much higher specificity and reproducibility,” she said. Biocartis intends for the platform to eventually be used in diagnostic applications.