Device engineering
Measuring and controlling prameters in biological systems is challenging. To be able to do so we engineer devices which are tailored to the requirements of these systems. We have several ongoing projects where the goal is to use conventional optical, electronic and acoustic devices to assess and manipulate biological systems.
Acoustofluidic patterning for histology
Microtissues (such as organoids or spheroids) are useful to model
healthy or diseased human tissues and organs, with application in drug
testing, tissue engineering, and personalized medicine. To characterize
their morphology and phenotype, microtissues are often monitored using
histology and high-resolution imaging. While this technique is
well-established and standard for macroscopic tissue sections, it
remains challenging to execute and has low throughput in the context of
these sub-millimeter structures, mainly due to the fact that their size
makes them difficult to locate within the embedding medium. To enhance
the efficiency of microtissue histology, we developed an acoustofluidic
device that arranges microtissues in a coplanar arrangement within
HistoGel, a widely used embedding medium.
People Involved: Saumitra Joshi
Optical sensing for biological systems
Measuring markers in perfusates of biological systems is crucial to understand the state of the system. In this project, we are engineering a device that is able to measure biomarkers of interest, including flavin mononucleotide (FMN), indocyanine green (ICG) and pH, in perfusion systems. The goal of this system is to help with the assessment of donor livers as all three of those markers can provide crucial information about the organ state.
While FMN and ICG can be measured directly in the perfusate using absorbance/fluorescence properties, we use a different approach for pH where we engineered a gel which changes its optical properties based on pH changes.
People involved: Jonas Binz, Florian Huwyler
Cell culture system to investigate hydrostatic pressure
Skin cells dynamically respond to mechanical and biochemical stimuli,
which influence critical processes such as proliferation,
differentiation, and migration. By understanding this interplay,
mechanical and biochemical stimuli may be used in the future to
facilitate the growth of skin patches, tissue formation, and organ
regeneration, enabling new therapies and benefiting patients. The study
of these responses, mechanobiology, requires advanced in-vitro systems
to emulate physiological conditions. This project utilizes a device
designed for controlled manipulation of hydrostatic pressure (0.1–1.5
kPa) and substrate stiffness (0.1–100 kPa). The system facilitates
isolated and scalable experiments to analyze how the interplay of these
mechanical parameters affects cell behavior.
People Involved: Filippo Cuni
Strain sensitive hydrogels for surface reconstruction
Soft robots have the inate ability to deform at any location. Being able to detect those changes through onboard sensing and not through external cameras is challenging but needed to properly control those robots. In this project we are working on a distributed sensing scheme which should enable soft robots to determine how their surface is being stretched using strain sensitive hydrogels.
People Involved: Jonas Binz