EAGER: Novel MEMS Biosensor for Real Time Study of the Attachment of Cancer Cells

用于实时研究癌细胞附着的新型MEMS生物传感器本提案的目标是设计和制造一种能够实时检测正常细胞和癌细胞的附着和刚度的新型生物传感器。这种生物传感器将融合两种生物传感技术，即共振频率测量和阻抗光谱技术在一个单一的设备上。该方法是将阻抗谱技术的检测微电极置于压电谐振器的声路上。提出的生物传感器将能够在同一细胞上同时实时执行两种不同类型的电测量，并将代表癌细胞体外诊断的分析平台。这种生物传感器将具有测试细胞不同亚细胞区域的新能力，使用微电极阵列进行阻抗光谱检测。在这项研究中，预测电学测量和电池机械性能之间关系的数学模型也将被制定出来。拟议的研究是早期的探索性工作，将通过在单个设备中集成两种独立的测量方法来提供新的细胞分析能力。这种生物传感器可以有其他重要的应用，如：检测不同的癌症生物标志物，促进蒸汽细胞分化。首席研究员对这项研究与教育的整合感兴趣，特别是增加工程领域中代表性不足的学生的参与，并吸引女性参加博士课程。该教育计划还包括指导少数民族高中生，让代表性不足的学生参与日本的国际研究。

Novel MEMS Biosensor for Real Time Study of the Attachment of Cancer CellsThe objective of this proposal is to design and fabricate a novel biosensor with capabilities of detecting in real time the adhesion and stiffness of normal and cancer cells. This biosensor will merge two biosensing techniques namely resonant frequency measurements and impedance spectroscopy technique on a single device. The approach is to situate the detecting microelectrodes for impedance spectroscopy technique on the acoustic path of a piezoelectric resonator. The proposed biosensor will be able to simultaneously perform, in real time, two different types of electric measurements on the same cell and will represent an analysis platform for in vitro diagnosis of cancer cells. This biosensor will have novel capabilities to test different subcellular regions of a cell, using an array of microelectrodes for impedance spectroscopy detection. During this research mathematical models that will predict the relationship between the electrical measurements and the mechanical properties of the cell will be also formulated. The proposed research is exploratory work in early stage and will offer novel cell analysis capabilities provided by integrating two separate measurement methods in a single device.This biosensor could have other important applications as: detecting different cancer biomarkers, and facilitating steam cells differentiation. The principal investigator is interested in integration of this research with education and especially to increase the participation of underrepresented students in the engineering field and attract women to the doctoral program. The educational plan also includes mentoring high school students from minority population and involving underrepresented students in international research in Japan.