Grant: CCI Applied Research and Development Grants

Northern Nanopore Instruments (NNi), a spin-off of the University of Ottawa incorporated in 2020, is an instrumentation company that specializes in research tools and solutions to support fundamental and applied research on solid-state nanopores. The Center of Expertise in Smart Prototyping (CEPI) of La Cité in Ottawa which will do the applied research on this project has expertise in AI. Solid-state nanopores-tiny holes in thin membranes similar in size to a molecule of DNA or a typical protein-are set to disruptive multiple critical markets, including proteomics, DNA sequencing, drug discovery, next-generation digital information storage, and more. The operating principle is simple: when a voltage is applied across the nanopore in conductive solution, ionic current is driven through the pore, and biomolecules will block the ionic current during passage. The shape and characteristic of that blockage signal, if carefully decoded, provides a wealth of information about the translocating molecule. One of NNi's product offerings in an analysis and signal processing suite called Nanolyzer, intended to analyze and interpret the signals generated during nanopore operation. Typically, signals collected from nanopore sensing are polluted with noise from numerous sources. Traditional frequency-based filtering distorts the signal and further complicates analysis. This project goal is to use a deep learning approach to separate signal from noise and thereby reduce the noise with minimal distortion to the signal. The value would be a better signal signal-to-noise ratio improving interpretation of the signals generated by biomolecules passing through the nanopore. The CEPI's team will help Northern Nanopore Instruments achieve this goal.