Plasma-Sieve Platform

Seeing What
Standard Blood Tests Cannot

The earlier cancer is detected, the more lives are saved, but finding it requires detecting vanishingly rare DNA signals in blood. Plasma-Sieve captures dramatically more cell-free DNA than a standard blood draw, shifting what is detectable from a single blood test.

The Signal Hidden in Your Blood

Every cell in your body constantly sheds tiny DNA fragments into your bloodstream, including cancer cells. These fragments, called circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA), carry molecular signatures that can reveal a tumor's presence, type, and even drug resistance, all from a simple blood draw.

The problem: in early-stage disease or after treatment ends, these tumor-derived fragments are extraordinarily rare. They may represent just 1 in 100,000 or 1 in 1,000,000 of all cfDNA molecules in the blood.

A standard blood draw captures so little total cfDNA that even the most advanced sequencing and PCR technologies cannot reliably find that rare signal. The limiting factor is not the test, it is the amount of DNA available to interrogate.

The Numbers

Standard 10 mL blood draw

Yields approximately 5–30 ng of cfDNA (~1,650–9,900 haploid genome equivalents). At a variant allele frequency (VAF) of 0.001%, this input contains on average fewer than 0.1 copies of the target mutation, below the statistical threshold for reliable detection.

Plasma-Sieve: 50× enrichment

~300,000 hGE available. At VAF 0.001%, expected mutant copies rise to ~3.0, putting detection probability above 95% by Poisson statistics.

Plasma-Sieve: 200× enrichment

~1,200,000 hGE available. At VAF 0.001%, expected mutant copies rise to ~12.0; detection probability exceeds 99.99%.

50×–200×

More cfDNA

Yield vs. standard 10 mL venipuncture

~1,200,000

Genome Equivalents

Available per run at maximum enrichment

>95%

Detection at VAF 0.001%

Probability at 50× enrichment (Poisson model)

100×–1,000×

LOD Improvement

Theoretical gain in limit of detection for digital PCR MRD assays

The Detection Sensitivity Gap

The chart below shows the Poisson probability of detecting at least one mutant molecule across the full range of variant allele frequencies relevant to clinical oncology: from multi-cancer early detection (MCED) to minimal residual disease (MRD) monitoring. Hover anywhere on the chart to compare exact detection probabilities.

Standard 10 mL draw (~6,000 hGE)

Plasma-Sieve 50× (~300,000 hGE)

Plasma-Sieve 200× (~1,200,000 hGE)

95% detection threshold

Model: P(detection) = 1 − e^−N·f — Poisson probability of detecting ≥1 mutant molecule. hGE = haploid genome equivalents (330 hGE/ng cfDNA).

Hover over the chart
to explore values

How to read this chart: Each curve shows the probability that at least one copy of a rare mutation is present in the cfDNA sample — the minimum requirement for any downstream assay to detect it. The shaded region represents the detection gap that Plasma-Sieve closes. VAF values below 0.001% are characteristic of early-stage solid tumors and post-treatment MRD.

A Different Way to Think About It

Imagine searching an enormous library for a single book with one misprinted word. A standard blood draw hands you five random pages to check. The odds of finding that misprint are near zero.

Plasma-Sieve hands you 250 to 1,000 pages from the same library. At 200× enrichment, the misprint is almost guaranteed to appear somewhere in what you are given to read.

The sequencer or PCR instrument does not change. The library does not change. What changes is how much of it you can read, and that makes all the difference in early cancer detection.

For Clinicians & Researchers

→Microgram-scale cfDNA inputs enable ultra-deep NGS library construction for multi-cancer early detection panels without compromising coverage uniformity
→50×–200× larger digital PCR inputs directly lower the analytical limit of detection in tumor-informed MRD assays by 100- to 1,000-fold
→Enables interrogation of cfDNA mutations present at VAFs below 0.0001%, previously inaccessible from peripheral blood
→Compatible with existing downstream workflows: ddPCR, NGS, methylation sequencing

For Patients & Advocates

→Detects cancer signals in blood at stages where tumors are still small and treatment is most effective
→More confident "no evidence of disease" findings after surgery or chemotherapy
→Reduces reliance on invasive tumor biopsies for ongoing disease monitoring
→A blood test that can find what standard tests miss, earlier and more reliably

The sensitivity model above is a theoretical Poisson analysis based on published cfDNA yield estimates (330 hGE/ng) and the observed enrichment range of the Plasma-Sieve platform (50×–200× vs. a standard 10 mL draw yielding ~15 ng cfDNA). Actual clinical performance will depend on assay design, sequencing depth, error suppression, and patient-specific cfDNA concentrations. This content is for informational purposes only. The Plasma-Sieve technology is investigational and not currently cleared or approved by the FDA for clinical diagnostic use.

Interested in the Platform?

We are actively seeking research partnerships and early adopters in oncology diagnostics. Reach out to discuss access, collaboration, or technical documentation.

Contact Our Research Team