Imaging-omics - digitial and multiplex tissue analysis for better medical diagnostics

Purpose and goal:

With the increasing degree of personalized care, the demands on diagnostics and prognostics also increase. In order to better understand the course of the disease and treatment response on an individual level, methods are required to e.g. visualize the activity of immune cells in the tumor microenvironment and develop new biomarkers for disease. Our collaborative project involving scientists, doctors, engineers and companies focused on this characterization of tissues to develop tomorrow´s technologies and products for diagnostics and life science research.

Expected results and effects:

The project aimed to provide the intended end user, academic research environments, core facilities, smaller biotech companies, as well as hospital clinics with new tools to perform molecular profiling of tissues with a focus on personalized diagnostics and prognostics. Great benefits for the patient and also socio-economic gains would arise if we could better predict different treatment results and thus create better conditions for patients to receive the right treatment at the right time.

Approach and implementation:

By working simultaneously in teams and in parallel, we were able to achieve results more quickly despite the challenges posed by COVID-19 and chip shortages. As an example, we derived a new cancer antibody panel as well as hardware (fluidics). The participating company developed several new products during the project.

We now have a prototype system ready for use, which presents excellent opportunities for future product development. The project has yielded valuable experience and contacts that will assist us in our ongoing development efforts and future commercialisation