An intelligent bio-transistor for the detection, at a molecular level, of bio-protein and genomic markers, with analysis times of a few hours, which opens new horizons in the early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, but not only. An absolutely innovative system, to which the Microelectronics research group of the Department of Information Engineering of the University of Brescia participates, and which will be developed over the next three years with European funds.
The SiMBiT project (Single molecule bio-electronic smart system array for clinical testing), funded by the European Commission within the Horizon 2020 program (in particular from the Information and Communication Tecnologies – Electronic sub-program), kicked off in January. A three and a half year project of over three million euros, led by Prof. Luisa Torsi of the University of Bari (through a Consortium) and in which the University of Brescia, with a unit led by researcher Fabrizio Torricelli. UniBS, unit led by the researcher Fabrizio Torricelli, is part of the consortium and in particular, received a financing of € 391,222.
There are 9 institutions participating in the project (among these, in addition to Bari and Brescia, the Universities of Dusseldorf, Eindhoven, Åbo Akademi and the Italian Institute of Technology, but also hi-tech companies) and they are all characterized by a multidisciplinary approach that will allow to integrate electronic engineering, new materials, industrial technologies, biotechnologies, analytical chemistry and medicine. The prototype will be validated in the clinical context of the early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.
The research unit of the University of Brescia composed by Dr. Fabrizio Torricelli (scientific manager of the SiMBiT project), by Prof. Zsolt M. Kovács-Vajna, by Eng. Paolo Romele and from Ing. Damiano Pe, will be a leader in the engineering and optimization of bio-electronic devices in order to allow integration into matrices (in the photo, from the left: Torricelli and Kovács-Vajna).For more information, visit the project website or project page in the Cordis EU database.