Research
Microtechnology, Biology, and Medicine
Our research in general is rooted in Physics and in the Engineering disciplines and is targeted at developing and applying microtechnological, microfluidic, and microelectronic means to address questions in biology and biomedicine. Applications of our technologies are in the fields of external page systems biology, external page neuroscience, drug testing, and external page personalized medicine.
Three Major Lines of Research:
(1) CMOS Microsystems
Microtransducers are integrated in complementary-metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology with dedicated analog and digital circuitry units in complex microsystems. The systems include microelectrode and biosensor systems.
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(2) Microfluidic and Microphysiological Systems
Microfluidic and microphysiological systems are developed to recapitulate organs (e.g., liver, heart, pancreas) and physiological barriers (e.g., blood-brain barrier, lung, bladder, placenta) on chips for advanced in-vitro testing. The microtissue-based and barrier systems are characterized and analyzed by means of, e.g., impedance spectroscopy or high-resolution microscopy.
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(3) Electrophysiology and Neuroscience
Preparations of electro-active cells, predominantly brain cells, are placed directly atop fully processed high-density microelectrode arrays (HD-MEAs) featuring thousands of electrodes. The HD-MEAs are used - also in combination with patch clamp and confocal microscopy - to address fundamental questions in neuroscience and medicine.
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