Monday, September 11 10:15 – 10:40
CHEMICAL SENSORS I
Emmanuel Scorsone
Keynote Speaker
Senior scientist and head of diamond research activities at CEA-LIST
Highly Sensitive and Selective Detection of L-Tryptophan by ECL Using Boron-Doped Diamond Electrode
Synthetic diamond can be grown in the laboratory by Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (MP-CVD) as both single crystals, and polycrystalline thin films. These materials exhibit outstanding physical and chemical properties that are of high interest for chemical sensing applications.
In particular, boron doped diamond electrodes offer high promises in many electroanalytical applications. This is due in particular to their corrosion resilience, low intrinsic double layer capacitance, and high potential window in aqueous media, offering opportunities to detect chemical species that would be otherwise difficult to detect because of their high oxidation or reduction potentials. The high overpotential in diamond allows also the efficient production of radicals such as OH• or O2•−, which may be used advantageously for instance in some coreactant-less electrochemiluminescence (ECL) reactions. We will focus on this latter aspect of diamond through practical examples including e.g. the highly sensitive and selective detection of 3-methylindole (“skatole”) in pork’s fat, responsible for boar taint, or of L-tryptophan, an amino-acid that is essential to the metabolism of humans but can also be harmful to the central nervous system.
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Dr. Emmanuel Scorsone studied chemistry at the Glasgow Caledonian University in Scotland and graduated with a PhD in Instrumentation and Analytical Science from UMIST, Manchester, UK (2002). He gained expertise in gas sensors and artificial olfaction while working as an academic researcher at the University of Manchester (2002-2004) and then as R&D Scientist at Alphasense Ltd (2004-2006), UK. He integrated the French Commission for Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies (CEA) in 2006 where he leads applied research activities related to synthetic diamond based chemical sensors, analytical micro/nano-systems and implantable devices. In 2015 he received the Wolfgang Göpel memorial award for his work on a bio-electronic nose combining olfactory proteins and synthetic diamond transducers, and he was awarded the Fellowship of Eurosensors 2018. He is inventor/co-inventor of 16 patents and co-author of more than 60 peer-reviewed articles in the field of chemical sensors, implantable medical devices, and energy storage.
Monday, September 11 14:30 – 14:55
SPECIAL SESSION – Eclipse: ECL-based Infectious Pathogen (bio)Sensor
Wolfgang Knoll
Invited speaker
Scientific Managing Director, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, Vienna, Austria
Merging Surface-Plasmon Optical With Electronic Sensing
In one of the „classical“ configurations of electrolyte-gated field-effect transistors (EGOFETs) for biosensing, the planar gate electrode is functionalized by (a monolayer of) receptors, to which the analyte molecules of interest bind from the analyte solution, thereby modifying the gate potential which in turn modifies the source-drain current as the sensor output signal.
This format inspired us to attach a prism to this Au gate electrode, mounting this to a surface plasmon spectrometer in the Kretschmann configuration coupled to a flow cell, thus allowing for simultaneous optical and electronic sensing of the identical affinity reaction, happening in real time at the sensor Au surface. As a test sample we investigated the build-up of multilayer assemblies, deposited by the layer-by-layer protocol of polyelectrolytes from solution at the gate electrode/ Kretschmann SPR substrate.
When monitoring the formation protocol of the multilayer architecture by surface-plasmon optics in real time one can see the monotonous build-up of the assembly with every alternate deposition of a monolayer of the polyanionic poly (diallyl-dimethylammonium chloride) (PDADMAC)) and the polycationic poly(styrene-sulfonate) (PSS)) . However, by contrast the electronic signal monitored simultaneously with the graphene channel actually demonstrates that a lot more is happening! And not only during the deposition, rather significant current changes are seen also during the rinsing steps.
Up to now, this was never observed because it was never possible to record this. It can be expected that in other interfacial binding reactions, e.g., during DNA hybridization or for aptamer- ligand interactions more details than known so far will become evident.
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Wolfgang Knoll earned a PhD degree in Biophysics from the University of Konstanz in 1976. From 1991-1999 he was the laboratory director for Exotic Nanomaterials in Wako, Japan, at the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN). From 1993 to 2008, he was furthermore Director of the Materials Science Department at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz, Germany. From 2008 to 2023, he was the Scientific Managing Director of the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology. Since 2010 he is a Regular Member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Twente, the Netherlands, in 2011, and became a member of the Academia Europaea in 2017.
Tuesday, September 12 9:45 – 10:10
BIOSENSORS & LAB-ON-CHIP III
Clémentine Lipp
Keynote Speaker
Postdoctoral researcher at LMIS1 – EPFL
Controlled Contact Between Beads and Cells for the Characterization of Receptor-Ligand Bonds
It is currently a difficult and laborious task to place two micro-sized objects in contact for a controlled amount of time and to then probe their state of adhesion. Cell-based therapies would highly benefit from a system capable to do so for the identification of T-cells with potent receptors towards cancer-specific antigens.
We present a microfluidic chip capable of placing two cells in contact for a given duration and to assess their adhesion by leveraging the combination of two types of trapping methods in flow conditions. A novel type of hydrodynamic traps holding the cells from below against the fluid flow is used in combination with dielectrophoretic traps to ensure independent control over the two types of cells.
The system is first compared to the state-of-the-art methods and validated by an adhesion assay between fibronectin-coated beads and fibroblasts. Following this, the application of the device to the field of immunotherapy is demonstrated by placing T-cell clones in contact with antigen presenting cells showing that the binding of TCR-pMHC complexes increases the pair lifetime.
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Dr. Clémentine Lipp obtained a M.S. Degree in Microengineering from EPFL in Switzerland. The microfabrication know-how she gained during her master thesis at CERN on the fabrication of buried microchannels for cooling of particle detectors raised her interest for applying these microfabrication methods to the biomedical domain. To bring this to reality, she joined the laboratory of Professor Philippe Renaud (LMIS4) at EPFL for her PhD thesis (co-funded by ANR and SNSF) where she developed a microfluidic chip using novel fabrication processes for the controlled contact between beads and cells. In parallel she worked on an interference-based method of creating microscopic structural color pixels using a single-mask process and standard UV photolithography. She obtained her PhD in March 2023 and is now working on the ROSE H2020 project for the development an olfactory prosthesis for anosmic patients at LMIS1, EPFL.
Tuesday, September 12 15:15 – 15:40
BIOSENSORS & LAB-ON-CHIP IV
Judith Schlanderer
Hahn-Schickard Research Institute in Freiburg, Germany
Keynote Speaker
Sample preparation and qPCR detection of tuberculosis on a centrifugal microfluidic cartridge enabling molecular downstream resistance profiling by tNGS.
Tuberculosis (TB) is still one of the world’s deadliest infections. Fast detection of the pathogen M. tuberculosis complex (MTBC) and its genetic resistance markers substantially improves treatment success and outcome. The key to rapid genetic diagnostics is efficient extraction of DNA from sputum for qPCR detection at the point-of-care, with subsequent resistance profiling by targeted next generation sequencing (tNGS).
We present the fully automated sample preparation of MTBC DNA from 3 ml liquefied sputum and qPCR detection of MTBC on a centrifugal microfluidic cartridge with simultaneous provision of the purified MTBC DNA for subsequent analyses. Coupled tNGS successfully provided resistance profiles, demonstrated for 17 patient samples.
This proof-of-principle study is the first to demonstrate the technical implementation of a two-stage TB diagnostic workflow for fast and comprehensive diagnosis of TB.
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Judith Schlanderer earned her Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from KIT in Karlsruhe, Germany. There she focused on classical fluid mechanics and microsystem engineering, which encouraged her to combine these two subjects in the field of biomedical microfluidics. Thus, she started a PhD at the Hahn-Schickard Research Institute in Freiburg, Germany. There she developed a point-of-care qPCR test for tuberculosis. Her work included the design and system integration of a centrifugal microfluidic automation solution, the development of new microfluidic operations, and establishing and optimizing manufacturing processes for microfluidic test chips.
Wednesday, September 13 14:30 – 15:10
SPECIAL SESSION: Microsystems technologies in Italy
Giorgio Allegato
Invited speaker
MEMS Technology Development Director at STMicroelectronics
The ST MEMS Journey: Exploring innovative technologies for a smarter future
STMicroelectronics is a global semiconductor company offering one of the largest range of MEMS products within the full spectrum of applications. This covers low-power devices for IoT to high-end devices for accurate navigation, industry 4.0, augmented virtual reality components and smartphones.
ST has a long and proven expertise in MEMS technology with micromachining processes coupled with continuous design innovation. As the first major manufacturer It has built partnerships with customers, research institutes and universities both locally in Italy and worldwide.
This presentation will guide you through the ST 20-years long journey in MEMS technology, with inertial and environmental sensors, acoustic and optical actuators. It will show you how ST is building upon continuous technology and material innovation to deliver the next leading-edge MEMS products for a smarter and sustainable future.
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After earning an M.S. Degree in Physics at the University of Bari and a post-graduate degree in Materials Science from the University of Pavia, Giorgio joined ST in 2004 as a MEMS technology development engineer. He led new technology development and industrialization activities for several MEMS products, including accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetic, pressure sensors and inkjet, optical and acoustic actuators. Always enthusiastic about helping developers effectively find the best solution for their applications, today Giorgio is R&D Director for MEMS technologies where he defines ST’s roadmap for the development of advanced and innovative semiconductor technologies. He has also published papers and patents in the field of micromachining technology, characterization, and design.