Periodic Reporting for period 2 - MNR4SCell (Micro/Nano Robotics for Single Cancer Cells)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2019-01-01 al 2022-10-31
• To establish a long-term and lasting research collaboration network through the MNR4SCell programme by exchange of researchers for short periods during the project.
• To exchange ideas and technology concepts for further development of micro/nano robotics for the measurement, diagnosis and targeted therapy of single cancer cells.
• To strengthen research partnerships through staff exchanges and networking activities between European and Chinese organisations.
•To take a synergistic approach to the research areas and explore novel methodologies and applications for potential major scientific and technological breakthroughs.
The techniques for key components of micro/nano robotics have explored. A number of micro/nano positioning stages and grippers have been developed for the improvement of positioning accuracy, speed and flexibility which are the crucial requirements for the high precision and high efficiency handling and manipulation. Electrodes with several defined patterns have been achieved by laser interference lithography direct writing and electron beam lithography. The broad modular range nanomechanical mapping AFM has been developed for measurement and characterisation of cells and soft materials. This approach can be particularly useful for analysing heterogeneous samples with large elastic modulus variations in multi-environments. In situ monitoring of the nanomechanical properties of cancer cells has been studied using the developed AFM technique. In-situ quantification the complex poisson’s ratio of single cells have been investigated using a magnetic bead probe based nanomechanical spectroscopy. AFM-based nanoindentation for cell mechanical property measurement has also established to explore the influence of different drugs for the cancer cell therapy. Different mobile micro/nano robots driven by magnetic forces have been developed for the drug delivery and treatment. The Scanning Ion Conductance Microscopy has been developed and utilized for the cell topography and electric property measurement.
Micro/nano robotics and their applications in cancer therapy have significant potentials for commercial exploitation. Till now, there are 7 patents applications have been filed. We have put more efforts on the dissemination and exploitation of the project achievements e.g. workshops, seminars, and conferences. Especially, through the industrial partner’s contribution, the further exploitation of the developed techniques has been implemented to benefit the end-users. Based on the research achievement and outcomes, a spin-off company 'Changli Nano-Biology Ltd’ has been establihsed for the production of atomic force microscopy and applications in biology.
The physiomechanical characteristics of single cancer cell under different external mechanical and chemical stumuli have been extensively investigated by use of the developed micro/nano robotics and automation technologies. The relationships between the single cell behavior and the external stimuli have been established. These obtained knowledge and techniques have pave the way for drug screen and single cell diagnosis and therapy of cancers, which is one of the leading cause of death. The opportunities for correlative mapping of single cells at the nanoscale are huge and they could lead to a new tool for clinical diagnosis. The achived technical results of this project will be of considerable potential benefit to the nanoscopy, nanorobotics, photonic, sensing and biomedical communities in areas of key strength for EU industry.