Council to honor NJIT SmartPin( A liquid dispensing system useful fo...)

A liquid dispensing system useful for identifying medical woes ranging from cancer to bird flu will garner an award for two NJ inventors this week. The newly-patented device will offer small and medium-sized researchers a way to test fluids cheaply, efficiently and precisely. It will also allow them a chance, at last, to analyze genes, screen for hereditary or pathogenic diseases, analyze drugs and view the characteristics of protein.

The researchers Timothy Chang, electrical and computer engineering professor at NJIT, and Peter Tolias, executive director, Institute of Genomic Medicine at UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, will be honored Nov. 7, 2007, by the Research and Development Council of New Jersey for their patent to develop this new system.

The duo number among more than a dozen patent holders representing industry and academe in New Jersey to be honored at the councils annual Thomas Alva Edison Awards dinner Nov. 7, 2007 at 6:30 p.m. at Dolce, a restaurant at 300 North Maple Ave., Basking Ridge. (ATTENTION EDITORS: For more information about interviews or to attend the event, call Sheryl Weinstein at 973-596-3433.)

Using our invention, these smaller firms can carry out a range of genomic and/or chemical analyses rapidly and at a low cost, said Chang. These factors are significant as these labs need no longer rely on expensive equipment and test materials or wait for the turn-around-time of off-site processing.

This is especially crucial for detecting emerging diseases such as bird flu for which quick actions must be taken. It is further anticipated that this invention will enable under-developed or developing countries to improve their disease detection and diagnostic capabilities.

This invention should help advance medical research, while lowering the cost of healthcare in the long term, said Chang.

Central to the patent is Changs active self-sensing SmartPin, which uses tiny embedded
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