# High Throughput Digital Droplet ELISA for Ultrasensitive Multiplexed Diagnostics

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · 2020 · $213,288

## Abstract

Abstract:
Digital assays — in which ultra-sensitive molecular measurements are made by performing
millions of parallel experiments in picoliter droplets — have generated much recent enthusiasm
due to their single molecule resolution of RNA, DNA, and proteins, and their robustness to
reaction conditions. These assays have enormous untapped potential for point of care disease
diagnostics, but are currently mainly confined to laboratory settings due to the cumbersome
instrumentation necessary to generate, control, and measure tens of millions of independent
droplets. To overcome this challenge, we propose a hybrid microelectronic / microfluidic chip to
`unlock' droplet-based assays for clinical use. Our microdroplet megascale detector (µMD) can
generate and detect the fluorescence of millions of droplets per second (1000× faster than
existing digital approaches), while achieving a 1000x greater sensitivity than conventional
ELISA, using only a conventional cell phone camera. The key innovation of our approach is
borrowed from the telecommunications industry, wherein we modulate the excitation light with a
pseudorandom sequence that enables individual droplets to be resolved that would otherwise
overlap due to the limited frame rate of digital cameras. To demonstrate the power of our
approach, we focus our attention on the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9889673
- **Project number:** 1R21CA236653-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
- **Principal Investigator:** David Aaron Issadore
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $213,288
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-03-04 → 2023-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9889673

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9889673, High Throughput Digital Droplet ELISA for Ultrasensitive Multiplexed Diagnostics (1R21CA236653-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9889673. Licensed CC0.

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