Spring/Summer 2010 Issue 1
Sweet fix for diabetics
Chip off the Sony block
A new blood glucose monitor will alert emergency services when a diabetic is becoming hypoglycaemic. Using nanoelectronics and ehealth technology, scientists at Swansea University are collaborating with several Welsh companies to develop the next generation blood glucosemonitoring sensor. The project will involve the expertise and facilities from the Centre for Nanohealth and eHealth Industries Innovation Centre at Swansea University and will be led by Dr Vincent Teng, a nanoelectronics expert from the College of Engineering. Financed by the Welsh Government’s EU funded Academic Expertise for Business (A4B) programme, the £470k research project will develop a low-cost device providing continuous blood glucose measurement using a nanowires biosensor. Unlike the commonly used ‘finger stick’ glucose meter that requires patients to carry out up to ten tests a day, this device is pain free. Wholly non-invasive, the blood sample is collected via an array of micro-needles - measuring less than 1mm from the dermal layer of the skin - which has fewer nerve endings. The device will transmit readings from the sensor to the mobile phones of the clinical teams responsible in the NHS, and the patient’s next of kin. Being developed over the next two years, the device will have a direct and rapid route to market through the collaborative industry partners. In time, the system may enable monitoring of other chronic conditions including coronary heart disease, stroke, cancer and asthma.
A versatile and cost effective device enabling the next generation of digital molecular diagnostics
Capitalising on the growing medical market, Sony DADC BioSciences has been partnering with life science companies, offering customers OEM development, mass manufacture services and supplies of polymer-based ‘smart consumables’. “We looked at our skills and capabilities, and it was clear that we should be focusing on the emerging and fastdeveloping world of the ‘lab on a chip’” says Dr Christoph Mauracher, Senior Vice President at Sony DADC BioSciences. “Sony DADC BioSciences offers the entire process, from development to logistics, even cash collection. We industrialise other companies’ ideas and fantasies in polymer. They can simply pick and choose the services they want from us.” One such example is a recent collaboration with Quanterix Corporation. The two companies entered into a joint collaboration for the development and manufacture of smart consumables for use in the life sciences and IVD markets. Production of the Quanterix SiMoA Disc marks the first diagnostic consumable whose assay technology is based on optical disc formats by Sony DADC. The company uses high precision and high volume manufacturing processes, which it has pioneered for CD and DVD disc.
2012 ISSUE 4
Quanterix plans to develop and manufacture a fully automated instrument for its SiMoA technology, which will utilise these smart consumables to support a menu of diagnostic tests. Quanterix expects to launch the life science instrument and consumables in 2013, followed by an IVD platform for commercialisation in 2014.
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For more information contact Swansea University’s Press Office: +44 (0) 1792 29 50 For more information visit: www.biosciences.sonydadc.com