Biosensor Platform Developed for POC Diagnosis of Cerebrovascular Disease

The device has to be standalone so that it may be used for emergencies such as when diagnosis is required in an ambulance, emergency room, or as part of a rapid near-patient laboratory test in a hospital environment. Therefore, a number of key processes must be completed automatically within the system. The biosensor platform needs to be able to manipulate liquid samples and deliver any biomarkers that are present to the surface of the sensor in a manner that ensures accurate and reliable detection.

The EUR 3.6-million P3SENS consortium project, which is being coordinated by Multitel (Mons, Belgium), has been making good progress. The aim of the project is to design, develop, and manufacture robust microfluidic systems that can be used for fast and cost-effective sample transport and that also contain simple sample preparation functions.

Preliminary microfluidic structures have been designed taking into consideration the proposed layout of the sensor chip and the material requirements. The microfluidics system is to contain six parallel individual channels with different components supplying the integrated functions of washing and mixing.

Members of the consortium include: The Research Institute for Technical Physics and Materials Science (MFA, Budapest Hungary), which is mainly responsible for the immobilization and optical characterization of receptor protein layers using label-free optical waveguide based sensors, and for the manufacture of the microfluidic polymer structure; and a Center for Micro and Nanotechnology located in Micronova (Finland) and run jointly by VTT Technical Research Center of Finland (VTT; Finland) and Aalto University (Finland). VTT's main responsibilities in the project are the development of nanoimprint lithography (NIL) for patterning waveguides and photonic crystals into the polymer, the design and fabrication of NIL-based photonic chips, and the integration of photonic and fluidic functions in a single chip. Other institutes in the consortium include The Biomedical Proteomics Research Group (BPRG) at Geneva University (Switzerland); The James Watt Nanofabrication Center (JWNC) in Glasgow University (Scotland); Bayer Technology Services GmbH (Leverkusen, Germany); and Stratophase, a VC-funded spin-out from the University of Southampton in (UK).

Related Links:
P3SENS consortium project
Multitel
The Research Institute for Technical Physics and Materials Science
Center for Micro and Nanotechnology
VTT Technical Research Center of Finland
Aalto University
Biomedical Proteomics Research Group (BPRG) at Geneva University
The James Watt Nanofabrication Center (JWNC) in Glasgow University
Bayer Technology Services GmbH
Stratophase