22.11.2024
Doctoral thesis on biosensors based on organic electronics for early detection of biomarkers in cancer diagnostics
M.Sc. Kim Björkström’s doctoral thesis in Physics will be put forth for public defence at The Faculty of Science and Engineering at Åbo Akademi University.
The thesis is entitled Electrical Detection of Biomarkers Using Electrolyte-Gated Organic Field-Effect Transistors.
The public defence of the doctoral thesis takes place on Friday 29 November 2024, at 1PM in the Helikon auditorium, Arken, Tehtaankatu 2, Turku. You can also follow the defence online. Associate Professor Carlo Augusto Bortolotti, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy, will serve as opponent and Professor Ronald Österbacka, Åbo Akademi University, as custos.
Summary
The ability to detect single molecules of biomarkers in patient samples is of great importance for early diagnosis of diseases such as cancer. This thesis presents biosensors based on organic electronics, which can detect very low concentrations of biomarkers. The technology is based on a field-effect transistor with an organic material as the semiconductor and water is as the insulator. A layer of biomolecules, designed to capture the specific biomarker of interest, is functionalized to the gate terminal of the transistor. When the biomarker binds to the surface, there is a measurable change in the current through the semiconductor, even at very low biomarker concentrations.
The layer of biomolecules attached in the transistor is customizable, making it possible to configure the biosensor to detect different biomarkers provided that a receptor molecule can be identified for each marker. Scaling up the technology to 96 interconnected biosensors enables high-throughput screening, for example for early detection of pancreatic cancer. The thesis also compares the performance of this technology with the state-of-the-art optical analysis methods used in the field today.
Kim Björkström can be reached by email kim.bjorkstrom@abo.fi.
The doctoral thesis can be read online through the Doria publication archive.
Click here for a press photo of the doctoral student.
Instructions for following the doctoral defence remotely:
To follow the defence, you need the Zoom software or the Google Chrome browser. You do not need to create a Zoom account to follow the defence. If you install the application, you participate by clicking on the meeting link, after which you should allow the link to open in the Zoom app.