5th April, 2011 - Cork, Ireland

Tyndall National Institute, UCC  has begun the coordination of a €3M EU project for the development of novel smart sensing materials for applications in water purification technology and clinical diagnostics.  The nine partners involved in the EU "HYSENS" (Hybrid Molecule/Nanocrystal Assemblies for Photonic and Electronic Sensing Applications) project will work on the fabrication of innovative materials that will detect the concentration of ions such as sodium, potassium and calcium, in water and body fluids in a faster, cheaper and more effective way than the current commercial technologies. 

"The increasing shortage of water supply (seven European countries constituting 35% European population are at risk of water shortfall) has lead to the implementation of recycling plants for both portable water and technological applications, thus increasing the demand for low cost and fast contaminant detection technologies," explains Tyndall researcher and project co-ordinator, Dr. Daniela Iacopino.

"For example, ultrapure water is an essential reagent for the manufacture of semiconductor, pharmaceutical and power plant industries.  Existing and future industries are required to detect contaminant levels down to ng/L concentration limits.  These limits can today only be met with the incorporation of water analysis systems at the moment prohibitively expensive to implement.  On the other hand in the clinical diagnostic area there is an increasing demand for development of innovative low cost anlaysis technologies that could be applied for example in emergency rooms to obtain fast indication for the diagnosis of specific diseases.  Ion tests are routinely performed with techniques whose concentration detection limits are in teh mg-ug/L range."

"Although these limits meet the specifications required, more accurate, selective and sensitive methods would revolutionise the field of diagnostics for early detection and management of renal, endocrine, acid-base, water balance disorders, and many other conditions," says Dr. Iacopina.

"We are very excited to lead this research project which brings together world class interdisciplinary research groups from six European countries.  The novel materials fabricated within HYSENS will offer significant advantages over conventional technologies in terms of analysis time, cost and quality.  For example, the actual cost per analysis of ions in body fluids is today estimated to be in the range of €1.7 - €27.50.  Since the materials proposed by HYSENS are based on low cost starting materials and fabrication routes, we are estimating to bring the cost per analysis down to €0.05 - €1." commented Dr. Iacopino.

The total cost of the 3-year project is estimated to €3.4 million of which €3M is provided in grant funding from the EU Commission.  Cellix Ltd., a leading instrumentation company, is the other Irish partner involved in HYSENS.  Together, Tyndall and Cellix will receive €920,000 from the EU for this project.

Cellix is an instrumentation company providing microfluidic technology based solutions in the areas of drug discovery, diagnostics and medical research.  Cellix's headquarters are in Dublin, Ireland where it has a web-lab facility and a separate manufacturing facility.  Cellix will play a key role in the development of innovative low cost electrolyte analysis technologies that could for example be applied in emergency rooms to obtain fast indication for the diagnosis of specific diseases like renal, endocrine, acid-base, water balance disorders, and many other conditions.

Vivienne Williams, CEO, Cellix commented on the upcoming grant:  "We are delighted to be involved in this consortium.  Cellix's expertise in microfluidic technology is an excellent fit for the other partner's skills in their individual fields resulting in a truly complimentary consortium which I believe will work very well together.  Participation in grants such as HYSENS provides us with the resources to develop our technology further, broadening the applications and breaking into new markets.  Diversifying our product port folio will enable us to become a much stronger player in the provision of life science tools to biological researchers.  This jointly matches the European Commission's aim of aiding SMEs and helping Europe to be more competitive in science technology."

For more information, please contact: 

Julie Dorel, Marketing Communications Manager, Tyndall National Institute, UCC, Cork, Ireland.

Tel:  +353-(0)87-130-9322

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