Acoustophoresis - the next generation cell handling in medical diagnostics
Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation
Period: 1.10.2012 - 30.09.2017. External funding 33.6 MSEK
PI: Prof. Thomas Laurell, Lund University
Co-PI: Dr. David Ulmert, Prof. David Erlinge, Prof. Hans Lilja, Prof. Henrik Bruus
Goal
The project aims to develop new modalities for cancer diagnostics and erythrocyte/drug response monitoring by utilising two novel, non-invasive methods: an acoustic tweezer that allows noncontact cell trapping and cell drug interaction studies in controlled micro-environments for precise and specific response studies, and a microfluidic-based acoustic standing wave technology to extract circulating tumor cells (CTC) from blood. The CTC platform will also be complemented by an effort to develop a PET-imaging based method effectively measuring intratumoral androgen receptor (AR) signaling. The long-term goal of this research program will be to incorporate these methods alongside other clinical diagnostic technologies in order to improve the application of future experimental therapies and to identify patient subpopulations with aggressive cancer.
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