eBiochip Systems GmbHFraunhoferstraße 1
25524 Itzehoe
Germany | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Director of Science and Technology | | | | |
Industrial sector
Fields of application
- Clinical diagnostics
- Agro- and environmental analysis
- Pharmaceutics
- Food analysis
- Research and teaching
- Industry
Products/Technologies/Services
- Development and production of analytical electrical biochip systems
- Equipment and services for electrical biochip technology
Co-operations
- Fraunhofer Institute for Silicon Technology ISIT
- Siemens AG, Erlangen
- Scanbec GmbH, Halle
- 13 partners at various European universities and institutes
|
|
Lab-on-a-chip - electical biochip technologyeBiochip Systems was founded in 2000 as a spin-off from Fraunhofer Institute for Silicon Technology ISIT. The highly innovative company develops and produces analytical measuring systems for electrical biochips. The biochip is a highly sensitive sensor system for DNA or proteins. Biochips, which are anchored on a silicon chip- so called catcher molecules- bound and recognise unerringly biological active compounds out of a solution. In competing technologies the proof is mostly effected by optical-physical methods, which are technically complex and cost-intensive and react sensitively on particles and diffusions.
eBiochip Systems however succeeded to readout biological recognition processes directly via electrical signals on the chip. Thereby the catcher molecule causes an electrical signal as soon as it has identified its counterpart, which is analysed directly by the electronic measuring equipment.
The biochips, which are produced at the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicon Technology, can be quickly integrated in the form of “chip sticks“for the execution of analyses into the portable and easy to use measuring system. For example proof of antibiotics in foodstuffs, biological weapons or pathogens can be carried out directly and flexible. These systems are already been used successfully in many European laboratories as analytical platforms.
Together with industrial partners, this principle was further developed in order to create economically reasonable electrical micro arrays and measuring equipment for a large-scale market, which can be used as miniaturised laboratories.
For his pioneering development work in the electrical biochip technology, Dr. Rainer Hintsche, Associate and Technical Director at eBiochip Systems, recently received the renowned German Future Prize for Technology and Innovation 2004 together with his partners from Siemens and Infineon. The next objective is to establish applications in medicine, industry and research on a broad basis and to market biochips in combination with the high-capacity equipment technology.
|