Nov 18 2008
MicroFluidic Systems, a privately-held company, announced today that they will be highlighting their Microfluidic-Bioagent Autonomous Networked Detector (M-BAND) at the 3rd Annual National Conference on Environmental Sampling and Detection for Bio-Threat Agents.
The M-BAND has been developed via a multi-year contract from the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate. MFSI will display the features and performance of the system at their booth, including a demonstration of the network-implemented, remote control of a system, and in an invited lecture by CEO, Dr. M. Allen Northrup.
This National conference is sponsored by: The Department of Defense's Chemical Biological Medical Systems, the Joint Project Manager for Biological Defense, the Technical Support Working Group, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Environmental Protection Agency. The dates are December 2-4 and it will be held at the Las Vegas Hilton. This conference will provide a forum for dialogue between government, industry, academia, and first responders to address critical issues in environmental sampling and bio-detection.
MFSI was awarded the 4th stage of funding (Phase IIIX) for the continued development, testing, and pilot manufacturing of the M-BAND system in May, 2008. The M-BAND has been through a series of third-party field tests including the evaluation of multiple systems in a major urban environment. The M-BAND system is expected to be deployed as a fully autonomous, networked, air-borne pathogen monitoring and identification system for bacteria, viruses, and toxins throughout the US in the coming years. Coupled with this on-going contract with DHS Science and Technology, MFSI continues to offer a variety of solutions for automated biological agent detection.
"We look forward to the production of the M-BAND system and its derivative technology platforms into a wide variety of applications ranging from homeland security, biodefense, industry, research, and diagnostics," commented Dr. M. Allen Northrup, MFSI President and CEO. The BAND Program is managed by Edward Rhyne, PM, DHS, S & T, contract no. HSHQPA-05-9-001.
MicroFluidic Systems (MFSI), http://www.microfluidicsystems.com/, was founded in 2001 and is focused on the development of microfluidic systems for automated preparation of biological assays. MFSI personnel have been involved with the development of automated DNA-based pathogen detection systems and microfluidics for the US Government and commercial markets for over 12 years, including the world's first miniaturized, portable, battery-operated, real- time, polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR)-based detection system. For more information, please contact MFSI at 510-354-0400 or visit the website, http://www.microfluidicsystems.com/.