The PolyCell group develops advanced polymer microtechnology based tools for the analysis and manipulation of cells and organic molecules.

The polymer microtechnology platform being developed addresses time efficient and cost efficient fabrication of highly controlled microenvironments with particularly focus on functional surface chemistry applied by wet chemistry, photochemistry, or plasma polymerization. Targeted surface functionalities include functionalized conductive polymer circuits for stimulation and sensing, and surface chemistry controlling cell adhesion and cell stimulation.

The major application area lies within culture or analysis of sensitive human cells that require more accurate microenvironmental control than offered by traditional cell culture. Polymer microfabrication actitivies are complemented by cell biology and molecular biology competences addressing biological responses to the engineered microtechnology, including targeted differentiation and directed cell migration.

Competences

The group has strong competences within

• fast prototyping of microfluidic devices with particular focus on injection molding,
• surface modification by wet chemistry and plasma polymerization,
• patterning of conductive polymer films,
• chemical and topographical surface analysis,
• automated timelapse microscopy analysis, and
• cell biological analysis.

Research projects

The PolyCell group currently participates in the following externally funded projects:

• IndiTreat: Individualized chemotherapy treatment of colorectal cancer patient by advanced polymer micro- and nanotechnology technology to test all available combinations of chemotherapeutic drugs on each patient's cancer cells.
• Microshaping hydrogels in 3D: Two-photon based fabrication of soft hydrogels with 3D structures similar to human tissue for testing the directed motion of dendritic cells used in cell-based cancer immunotherapy.
• PolyNano: Large-area transfer and patterning of biomolecules during injection molding to support capture, culture, and analysis of immune cells used in cell-based cancer immunotherapy.
• PILOC: Next generation polymer-based chips for automated patch clamp analysis.
• CELLGIGS: Technology foundation for next-next generation polymer-based chips for automated patch clamp analysis.

Courses

The group contributes to the following courses at DTU:

• 33236 LabChip-1: Bio/chemical microsystems on chips
• 33481 Polymer Micro Fabrication
• 33482 The Biocompatibility of Materials