UniBasel
Expert in Functionalization/Sensing
Ernst Meyer
UniBasel
PATLiSci2
Developing rapid diagnostic tools for cancer, using highly parallelized mechanical sensors to investigate biopsy samples efficiently
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EPFL/STI/IMT/SAMLAB
Expert in microsensors, microfluidics and  
BioMEMS
Nico De Rooij
EPFL
UniBasel
Expert in high-end virtual microscopy, pathology
Katharina Glatz
UniBasel
CSEM SA
Expert in molecular dynamics and near?field optical microscopy
Harry Heinzelmann
CSEM SA
USB/University
Expert in the Internal Limiting Membrane (ILM) of the retina and retinal diseases
Paul Henrich
USB
UniBasel/Biozentrum
Expert in the fundamental principles and functional relationships between molecular mechanics, selectivity and transport in biological systems
Roderick Lim
UniBasel
UniBasel/Biozentrum
Expert in automated and reliable tissue diagnostics
Marko Loparic
UniBasel
CSEM
Expert in Microfabrication of hollow AFM cantilevers-nanoscale dispensing
André Meister
CSEM
USB/University
Expert in gynecology and obstetrics
Rosanna Zanetti
USB

Project Description

The aim is to develop rapid diagnostic tools for cancer. Highly parallelized mechanical sensors are used to investigate biopsy samples in a fast and reliable way. A large number of force vs. distance curves is acquired on the biopsy sample to get enough statistics for a representative value of the elasticity (Young’s modulus) of the cells under investigation.  

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Read the Project Presentation

Our researchers in the media

Breath test for detecting head and neck cancer

Could Point-of-Care Devices Be the Next Killer Apps?

Atomic force microscopy on a chip

NADIS: A Novel AFM-based Tool for Dispensing Fluids into Single Cells

Notable publications

Fast diagnostics of BRAF mutations in biopsies from malignant melanoma
François Huber, Hans Peter Lang, Kathrin Glatz, Donata Rimoldi, Ernst Meyer, Christoph Gerber
Nano Letters 2016, 16, 5373-5377

Piezoresistive membrane surface stress sensors for characterization of breath samples of head & neck cancer patients
Hans Peter Lang, Frédéric Loizeau, Agnès Hiou, Jean-Paul Rivals, Pedro Romero, Terunobu Akiyama, Christoph Gerber, Ernst Meyer


Piezoresistive membrane surface stress sensors for characterization of breath samples of head and neck cancer patients
Hans Peter Lang, Frédéric Loizeau, Agnès Hiou, Jean-Paul Rivals, Pedro Romero, Terunobu Akiyama, Christoph Gerber, Ernst Meyer
Sensors 2016, 16, 1149; doi:10.3390/s16071149


Emilsson, G., Schoch, R. L., Oertle, P., Xiong, K., Lim, Roderick Y., & Dahlin, A. B.
Applied Surface Science, 396, 384-392


[more]

Posters from 2016


Diagnosis of HER2 amplification in biopsies from breast cancer using nanomechanical biosensors
François Huber, Hans Peter Lang, Marija Plodinec, Ernst Meyer, Christoph Gerber

Nanomechanical profiling of breast cancer
Marija Plodinec, Christian Raez, Philipp Oertle, Daphne Asgeirsson, Marko Loparic, Ellen C. Obermann and Roderick Y.H. Lim

Software design and device development for cantilever array deflection read-out in the FlexAFM head
Paolo Oliva, Hans Peter Lang, François Huber, Andreas Tonin, Lukas Howald, Dominik Brändlin, Terunobu Akiyama, Christoph Gerber, Ernst Meyer

BRAF mutational analysis of malignant melanoma biopsies
François Huber, Hans Peter Lang, Katharina Glatz, Donata Rimoldi, Ernst Meyer, Christoph Gerber


[more]

Posters from 2015


Demonstration of parallel AFM read-out for rapid sensing of cancer
Gilles Weder, Jonathan Cottet, Mélanie Favre, Réal Ischer, Ludovic Le Reste, Martha Liley and Harry Heinzelmann

Parallel Cantilever Sensing and Force Spectroscopy for Cancer Characterization
Hans Peter Lang, François Huber, Lukas Howald, Dominic Brändlin, Robert Sum, Andreas Tonin, Sascha Martin, Marija Plodinec, Marko Loparic, Roderick Lim, Christoph Gerber, Ernst Meyer

Rapid HER2 biomarker test for breast cancer
François Huber, Hans Peter Lang, Marija Plodinec, Marko Loparic, Roderick Lim, Christoph Gerber, Ernst Meyer

Direct Detection of the BRAFV600E mutation in total RNA extracted from biopsies of melanoma patients
Fraçois Huber, Hans Peter Lang, Donata Rimoldi, Christoph Gerber, Kathrin Glatz, Ernst Meyer

Posters from 2014


Parallel AFM analysis of biopsies for cancer diagnosis
Gilles Weder, Mélanie Favre, Réal Ischer, Martha Liley and Harry Heinzelmann

Towards rapid sensing of cancer with nanomechanical cantilevers
Francois Huber, Hans Peter Lang, Shigeki Kawai, Marija Plodinec, Marko Loparic, Rod Lim, Christoph Gerber, Ernst Meyer

Nano-elasticity - novel diagnostic biomarker for breast cancer
Marko Loparic, Marija Plodinec, Philipp Oertle, Roderick Lim

    

Project Photos