“We developed SnapCyte based on the need for affordable, basic cellular assays that can be accessed by any scientist working in a cell culture or biotechnology laboratory,” says Dr. Mads Daugaard, associate professor of urological sciences at UBC and senior researcher at VPC. “This application makes commercially available, high-throughput laboratory technology that is easily accessible from a smartphone.” Used to analyze cancer cells and other diseases on a microscopic scale, the first-of-its-kind smartphone app aims to accelerate the development of new, personalized medical treatments. Dr. Daugaard and his team at VPC, a Center of Excellence hosted by UBC and the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, developed the technology based on their own need for fast and accurate cell growth data. Now, they want to bring the groundbreaking technology to researchers around the world. “The app returns accurate data results within five minutes,” he says. “With prior technology, this process would normally take 45 minutes to an hour with the most advanced live cell imaging and analysis platforms, or 24 hours with colorimetric assays.” Dr. Mands Daugaard Researchers say SnapCyte simplifies workflows without compromising accuracy. Unlike current technology that uses duplicate samples of a cell culture with medium/serum solution, SnapCyte can be used in experiments on the plates where the cell culture is growing. It also collects and displays cumulative cell data in growth curves to help track cell growth over time, which can be easily shared between researchers. “We developed SnapCyte based on the need for affordable, basic cellular assays that can be accessed by any scientist working in a cell culture or biotechnology laboratory.” Dr. Mands Daugaard “All you have to do is take the cell culture dish out of an incubator for a minute and put it under a microscope where you can then take a picture of it with your smartphone,” says Dr. Daugaard. Scientists can also continuously monitor cell growth in the same well or stack of plates and add nucleic acids or other substances—in a process called transfection—when it’s optimal. “This platform can be very useful in drug screening,” says Dr. Daugaard. “By comparing multiple drug candidates, SnapCyte can very accurately and quickly assess how each drug acts on cancer or other cells to identify the most effective treatment.”
Bringing cell analytics within easy reach of laboratories around the world
At a few hundred dollars per year, the app’s affordable price makes the platform an affordable option for labs that can’t afford expensive cell analysis equipment. “Many labs don’t have the funding to buy $25,000 to $30,000 worth of new machinery or the budget to support the ongoing investment of thousands of dollars a month required to run the equipment,” says Dr. Daugaard. SnapCyte’s cloud-based platform allows users to not only accurately measure collective cell culture data in minutes — the big data it collects could also provide important insights to further advance scientific research. The app’s AI algorithm is constantly learning from the data it receives from its users, says Dr. Daugaard. While the data is protected, the app’s effectiveness will improve over time as it learns and shares information with the research community. “It’s time to democratize research, and that’s what we’re doing here,” says Dr. Daugaard. “We have something on the market for a fraction of the cost that will perform at least as well as – or even better than – many other devices currently available.” The SnapCyte app is currently in final beta testing and is expected to be released globally early next year. A version of this story originally appeared on the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute website.
