Sencio plays winning role in AMA Innovation
Award consortium
The Netherlands, Nijmegen, 25 May, 2016 – An industry consortium led by Siemens together with Sencio, Sensitec and M2 Automation has been awarded the AMA Innovation Award 2016 for development of Magnetic Flow Cytometry (MRCyte). This year’s € 10,000 prize was shared between the Magnetic Flow Cytometry team and developers working on Nerves of Glass. Both submissions were deemed by the jury to have an outstanding degree of innovation as well as great market relevance. The AMA Association for Sensors and Measurement presented the award winners at the SENSOR+TEST trade fair in Nuremberg on 10 May 2016.
Together with Sencio, contributing on behalf of Elmos Semiconductor AG, the consortium comprised experts from Siemens Healthineers, Sensitec and M2 Automation. The research project was funded by the BMBF (Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research). The MRCyte quantitative magnetic flow cytometry developed by the consortium could enable clinicians to perform routine diagnostics at the bedside using currently hidden cellular biomarkers.
To realize a point-of-care flow cytometer with integrated workflow, the consortium challenged the current status quo of today’s fluorescence flow cytometry. Magnetic flow cytometry enables detection of target cell functions by marking blood cells with magnetic nanoparticles. The workflow uses a blood-filled cartridge without needing sample preparation. The concentration measurement counts the magnetically marked cells on site, near the patient and within minutes.
“One major challenge in developing an integrated and all-magnetic workflow for quantitative single cell analysis was the integration of the magnetic sensor into a microfluidic chip,” said Oliver Hayden, Siemens Healthineers, Erlangen, Principal Investigator. “During our research efforts to optimize the cartridge assembly, we grabbed the opportunity to take advantage of a biocompatible and functional sensor package. With mechanical guiding structures on the package duroplast, upstream of the embedded GMR sensor, a perfect focusing of labeled cells was achieved to guide the analytes to the GMR resistors. In this way, the functional sensor package surface functions as an integral part of a microfluidic workflow operating on undiluted blood.”
The high detection precision of the MRCyte allows decisions regarding therapy for unstable cellular biomarkers. This was not feasible with competing processes, as routine applications would involve significant investments and specialized knowledge.
“A prime example of our packaging capabilities in diverse applications, this project shows how Sencio is expanding its expertise to open up new opportunities in the medical market,” said Oliver Maiwald, CEO Sencio. “This prize proves our partnership strength, working with industry leaders to develop new encapsulation solutions.”
