Publication

Substrates for plasmonic sensors in a flow-through configuration are mostly fabricated by cost-intensive clean room processes, whereas high-volume diagnostic devices are typically made of polymers. This contrast could limit the application of this efficient flow regime in mass-produced devices. In order to become more compatible with polymer processing, a commercially available polycarbonate filter membrane has been evaluated as a substrate for plasmonic flow-through biosensing.

Surface-imprinted polymers allow for specific cell detection based on simultaneous recognition of the cell shape, cell size, and cell membrane functionalities by macromolecular cell imprints. In this study, the specificity of detection and the detection sensitivity for target cells within a pool of non-target cells were analyzed for a cell-specific surface-imprinted polymer combined with a heat-transfer-based read-out technique (HTM).

This poster was showed at Mikrosystemtechnik Kongress in Aachen in October 2013. It describes the work done on the project by IWE1-Aachen partner, especially on the detection techniques being studied.

Authors: A. Buchenauer, J. Lazar, V.H. Nguyen and U. Schnakenberg (IWE1, Aachen) in collaboration with M. Bialon, D. Segun, C. Stein and C. Püttmann (EMI, Aachen) and W.T.V. Germeraad (AZM, Maastricht)

A poster was showed at the 7th International Conference on Microtechnologies in Medicine and Biology, this spring in Marina Del Ray. It describes the work done on the project by IWE1-Aachen, EMI-Aachen and AZM-Maastricht partner, especially the study carried out on plasmonic flow-through biosensor.

Authors: A. Buchenauer (IWE1, Aachen), M. Bialon (EMI, Aachen), D. Segun (EMI, Aachen), W.T.V. Germeraad (AZM, Maastricht), and U. Schnakenberg (IWE1, Aachen)

A poster was showed at the 7th International Conference on Microtechnologies in Medicine and Biology, this spring in Marina Del Ray. It describes the work done on the project by IWE1-Aachen, EMI-Aachen and AZM-Maastricht partner, especially the study carried out impedance detection technique.

Authors: J. Lazar (IWE1, Aachen), A. Buchenauer (IWE1, Aachen), M. Bialon (EMI, Aachen), D. Segun1, W.T.V. Germeraad2, and U. Schnakenberg1

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide. According to estimates, nearly 75.000 new cases occurred 2012 in Germany (Robert-Koch-Institute). For the improvement of the early detection of breast cancer the Interreg IV-A project MICROBIOMED (MICROtechnologies for BIOMEDical applications) was funded. The aim is to develop an antibody-based bioassay, which will later be integrated into a biochip system to achieve a simple and quick method for an early detection.

Breast cancer is with more than 1.3 million new cases per year the most common type of cancer in women worldwide. In contrast, men are only less than 1% affected by this disease. In addition to the generally used methods of breast-cancer diagnosis like palpation, mammography, ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging and biopsy, there are only a few tools available which indicate (early) breast cancer on the molecular level of the disease like Theros H/ISM and MGISM (bioTheranostics), Mammaprint™ (Agendia) or Oncotype DX® (GenomicHealth).

The aim of the Microbiomed project is to develop a lab-on-a-chip system for the detection of breast cancer at an early stage. For this purpose cancer cell markers are being selected and a combination of these will be applied in different technical set-ups.

Over the past few years, the SNAP-tag technology has become a methodology with great potential in a variety of applications, e.g. the (specific) visualization of individual proteins and studies of protein interaction in living cells. Furthermore, the tag can be used for immunopurification and detection of recombinant proteins or site-specific coupling of recombinant proteins to surfaces. Next to the in vitro applications, it also enables detection of tagged proteins in vivo.

Biosensors are used for a variety of applications in medicine and biology. A critical step during the development of such devices is the coordination of biological and technical requirements. The design of the device, as well as of the sample chamber and its functionalized surface are of great importance. Depending on the surface, the method of coupling of the desired receptor has to be adapted, to guarantee functionality and biological activity during the measuring process.