Other application areas | Biomedical microdevices (Loes Segerink)

Besides the fertility chip, organ on chip and biomarker detection, microfluidic devices are also developed for drug screening for brain stem cancer. Furthermore also miniaturized sensors are developed for different applications, such as erectile dysfunction. Additionally the use of microfluidic devices is not only limited to medical applications. Also research to protoplasts can benefit from miniaturization.

Collaborations: UT/AST (prof. Broersen, prof. van der Meer), UT/MCS (prof. Gardeniers), UMCG (prof. Elsinga), Prinses Máxima Centrum (dr. van Vuurden), St. Anthonius ziekenhuis (dr. Beck)

PET chip

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is a medical imaging method to measure (patho)physiological processes in patients non-invasively. Clinical applications include cancer, neurology, cardiology, and inflammation/infection monitoring. PET relies on short-lived radiopharmaceuticals labelled with for example ¹⁸F. Current production methods are inefficient, leading to incomplete reactions and wasted materials. Our research focuses on developing a fully integrated microfluidic chip for efficient PET-radiopharmaceutical production. This chip can produce PET tracers faster, with higher yields, lower reagent consumption, and faster purification. The goal is a fully automated procedure suitable for commercialization, enabling faster and more accurate diagnoses and treatments for patients worldwide.

collaboration: UMCG (prof. Elsinga) and UT/MCS (prof. Gardeniers)

Protoplast on chip

Crops that are resilient against diseases and extreme climate conditions are needed to solve the food problem. By looking at individual cells of the plant, researchers will try to understand the development of the plant. Microfluidic systems will be developed for this purpose, such that individual cells can be studied, selected and cultured, with as ultimate goal to regenerate the optimal plant.

Project team: