Modern medical and biological devices require surfaces that are not only highly biocompatible and protective but in which one can encode several smart medical functions such as anti-bacterial or anti-inflammatory properties, drug elution/drug delivery, tissue repair functions, smart sensing and others. Integration of such functions with biosurfaces and biointerfaces requires engineering on nanoscale inducing the chemical functionalization and biomolecular grafting. These techniques together with specific device fabrication routes including 2D and 3D design are studied at IMOMEC as a part of the basic research activities or in collaboration with several industrial and academic partners from medical areas. Examples of smart biosurfaces are novel generation of stents with particular biomolecules bound to the surfaces, medical implants, anti-bacterial coatings, nanoparticles for drug delivery and sensing etc. In most applications we use carbon-based coatings with emphasis on nanocrystalline diamond that is highly biocompatible, optically transparent, mechanically, biologically and chemically resistant and allows by its simple carbon chemistry immobilization of a range of suitable biomolecules.

We have substantial expertise in the use of either biomolecules or molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) as receptors to detect target molecules in different complex media. When considering biomolecules, IMO-IMOMEC has a track record in the selective and site-specific modification of nanobodies. This class of protein-based receptors is derived from heavy-chain antibodies, but offers some key advantages over their natural counterparts. Nanobodies exhibit increased stability and are encoded by a single gene which facilitates their modification and expression in biotechnological context.  MIPs on the other hand are synthetic receptors that can be used as an alternative to natural receptors such as antibodies, enzymes, cells etc. You can compare its technology with the unique matching of a lock and its key. Because a MIP is engineered to adhere to one specific analyte, it can act as a selective and highly sensitive sensor relevant to food, health, and environmental safety. MIP-based sensors can for example be used in- or atline, to detect extremely low concentrations of target species to monitor process parameters or to detect contaminants in the supply line e.g., and waste streams and to control the quality of the raw materials and products in the food industry e.g., to detect agents such as peptides in milk, remaining pesticides in water used for the cleaning of vegetables or hormones in biological samples.

This research activity is mostly experimental and at the intersection between fluid dynamics, biology and microtechnology. It focuses on the translation of biosensing concepts into microfluidic or mesofluidic systems, using our expertise in advanced microfabrication techniques for polymers, glass, diamond and silicon. Novel surface functionalization approaches are continuously developed in combination with microfluidics technology towards  miniaturized and or multi-analyte sensing.