The drums of Biosensing 2015 (4th International Conference on Bio-Sensing Technology, Lisbon-Portuga

4th International Conference on Bio-Sensing Technology, (10-13 May, 2015 Lisbon, Portugal) by Elsevier. It was my second time to attend and present my work in International Biosensor Conference. This conference was took place in Lisbon, such great city with very friendly and historical environment.The highlight of 4th International Conference on Bio-Sensing Technology is to bring up the urgent issues of biosensor technology developments.

Three sounds among the drumbeat of discussions at 4th International Conference on Biosensing Technology 2015 in Lisbon reverberated most for me.The first came from the bass drum sound of the fundamental of biosensor itself which is the biomarker development. Next were razor-sharp tones of the biosensor snare drum which is about integration of technologies in the evolution of a bio-sensing platform. And hitting the cymbals with ringing exclamation was Biosensor integration for real world products. Three pillars of developing biosensing technology was discussed in this meeting.

Biomarker : The Day The Music Died?

With the advent on preventative medicine, there is a huge opportunity for the biosensor community to apply the biosensor technologies to the rapid detection and identification of infectious disease pathogens. There are already a number of lateral-flow devices on the market for detection of influenza, HIV and malaria, but these devices are relatively slow and can be insensitive and prone to false results. The issues surrounding widespread antimicrobial resistance make the use of rapid detection technologies imperative as inappropriate antibiotic prescribing is one of the major causes of increasing antimicrobial resistance. The opportunities for rapid detection and antimicrobial susceptibility testing for use as point-of-use tests to improve patient management are immense. Examples of the types of tests which would allow paradigm shifts in the effective management of patients include rapid urine analysis, diagnosis of upper respiratory infections, sexually transmitted diseases and life-threatening conditions such as bacteremia. When biosensors are used at point-of-care, tests need to be rapid enough that they can give a result in a time that the patient is happy to wait (probably 10 – 15 minutes maximum time) and need to be of high-enough discriminatory power to inform appropriate therapeutic intervention, thus contributing to antibiotic stewardship and preventing further inappropriate use of antimicrobial drugs.

The panel wasn’t pedaling a doomsday scenario, but it was a cautionary tale. When the audience asked that what if the biomarkers is quite endemic and its very fast to disspeared for example just like H1N1, SARS, Ebola. After 2-3 years after the device optimum but the case have been dissapear. The challenge is laid down!

The New Beat Of Nano

When that discovery is related to sensing, it is tempting to see if it can be the seed for something revolutionary in, say, point-of-care diagnostics. Upon further examination it also becomes clear that many more "mundane" supporting technologies will be needed to make the new discovery part of a practical and coveted instrument. Not surprisingly, unusual challenges can arise in the attempt to successfully integrate components such as fluidics, robotics, software interfaces, etc.

The discovery which worked flawlessly on the bench top may find itself struggling under real-world implementation. The less than spectacular results can sometimes be the ruggedness of the discovery, other times it is the inadequacy of the supporting technology, more than likely it is both. Nano technology was giving a new beat in the biosensing technology.More applications are on the way. “There’s a whole new game around nano."The nanoparticle itself becomes the active principle.

Graphene, for example, has a list of characteristics ripe with possibilities. Its remarkable electronic properties, for one, seem perfect to create biosensors with extraordinary sensitivity. But then the reality of requirements such as shelf-life, manufacturing repeatability, biofunctionalization, and the means to transport fluids to and from the sensor comes into play creating many impediments to navigate. This talk will use some of our sensing technologies as a backdrop to describe the challenges and observations our group encountered in navigating technology transfer, creating fieldable systems and the occasional unexpected results of design decisions.

The Digital Sound

The most important issues is how to bring the technology from bench top to the industry. Modern advancements and capabilities in biosensor technologies have led to the promise of new information generation, lower cost sensing and new sensing applications. However, too often development of integrated biosensor devices stumbles due to their focus on the technology, rather than its suitability for the application and compatibility for production.Critical to any product’s success is its ability to meet the requirements of a regulated market environment and the needs of the target end users. By performing a product requirement definition analysis, a cost of good analysis and by defining the system interface early on in the development process, one can assure the product’s suitability for the application.For compatibility with production it is important to implement a Design for Manufacture approach. This approach takes into account the key pillars of volume manufacturing, which include: target cost of goods, functionality, product performance, yield and quality, as well as production scale up needs.The presentation discussed about the product development process relating to the integration of biosensors into some real world products. Covering some of the issues encountered during many biosensor product development processes, such as compatibility of materials and processes, minimisation of materials and sub-components and importantly integration of functionality.

Last but not the least; the poster exhibition part was the most exciting program from this conference. This session bring together the scientist to know closer about each other researchs. This session is also media to introduce Taiwan biosensor technology development into the world forum. More than that, discussed the problems and issues in each other research, built the partnership, and made a new friend were valuable experience which I got from the poster session .