Flying Lab for Blood Analysis
Freiburg, Sep 21, 2017
Illustration of an autonomously operating analytical system that tests hormone levels in birds in their natural habitat. Photo: Wolfgang Goymann und Richard Bruch
The Max Planck Society has approved the application to develop a small, autonomously operating analytical system for testing various hormones in birds in their natural habitat. The "FlyMiBird" project will receive €1.52 million in funding from the Society over a period of four years. Partners in the project are the Department of Behavioral Neurobiology of the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology (MPIO) in Seewiesen, the Laboratory for Sensors of the Department of Microsystems Engineering (IMTEK) of the University of Freiburg, and the company Jobst Technologies GmbH. The system will enable researchers to conduct many autonomous physiological tests without affecting the animal's natural behavior.
The spokesman of the project is Dr. Can Dincer, who also is a junior group leader at IMTEK. "In this project, we want to develop for the first time a wearable system that can automatically test for different substances in the blood over a long period of time", Dincer said. He added, "In the future, it could be possible to use this technology on humans as well – similar to a portable blood pressure meter. For example, it could be used to monitor certain blood parameters over days, weeks, and even months."
Dincer's research group is part of the Laboratory for Sensors headed by Prof. Dr. Gerald Urban. The lab focuses on many aspects of sensors, particularly in the fields of medicine and biology. Their work ranges from basic and application research all the way to technology transfer to industry. Dincer's group develops bioanalytical microsystems that can quickly and cost-effectively detect various substances in the tiniest amounts of fluid.
The Department of Behavioral Neurobiology headed by Prof. Dr. Manfred Gahr at the MPIO researches the sexual differentiation of the brain – in other words, the mechanism that leads to sex-specific behavior. In this context, they study the basic hormonal, molecular-genetic, and neurobiological characteristics of vocal communication of birds, ideally in a natural setting.
Freiburg based Jobst Technologies GmbH develops and produces bioanalytical microsystems and microfluidics and is manufacturing the sensor for the first intensive care glucose & lactate monitor.
Press release about a method developed by Dincer for personalizing dosages of antibiotics
Contact:
Dr. Can Dincer
Department of Microsystems Engineering (IMTEK)
University of Freiburg
Phone: +49 (0)761 / 203 - 7264
E-Mail: dincer@imtek.de
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Goymann
Max Planck Institute for Ornithology (MPIO)
Phone: +49 8157 932 301
E-Mail: goymann@orn.mpg.de