Tissue microprocessing: Shaping sub-nanoliter volumes of liquids on tissue sections and cells for multimodal analysis
In contrast to standard microfluidics, which are typically closed, we are developing a scanning, non-contact microfluidic technology that can shape liquids in the “open space” over surfaces. This technology utilizes a microfluidic probe (MFP) having microfabricated structures for localizing a liquid of interest on a surface using hydrodynamic flow confinement. With flow confinement operating at volumes smaller than 1 nanoliter, a few cells can be targeted in a human tissue section for the specific staining of disease markers. This confinement concept has also been scaled for targeting 1000’s of cells. I will show how this family of liquid scanning probe devices is evolving as a tool to alter the physics and chemistry of biological interfaces at the micrometer to centimeter-length scales. I will also propose concepts pertaining to tissue and cell microprocessing encompassing local phenotyping for interrogating tumor heterogeneity and spatially resolved molecular profiling which contributes to the multi-modal analysis of critical biopsy samples in the context of next-generation pathology.
Research Staff Member at the Laboratory of IBM Zurich.
Dr. Govind Kaigala is a Research Staff Member at the Laboratory of IBM in Zurich. He is currently leading activities on liquid-based non-contact scanning probe technologies – microfluidic probe – and is championing new concepts on “open space” microfluidics and “tissue microprocessing”. These research activities are driven by specific technological needs in the field of personalized medicine.
He is passionate about translational clinical/medical research and strives to bring in quantitation in biology by leveraging micro- and nanosystems assays for microchip-based chemical and biomolecular analysis.
Previously, he was an NSERC postdoctoral fellow at the microfluidics laboratory in Mechanical Engineering and Urology at Stanford University, USA. Dr. Kaigala received his Ph.D (Electrical Engineering and Oncology) and M.Eng from the University of Alberta, Canada. Dr. Kaigala has authored and co-authored 47 scientific publications, 70 conference papers, 1 book, and 30 patent families. In addition to IBM and other industrial entities, his work is supported by the European Research Council, the European Union and Swiss National Science Foundation. He is the recipient of several IBM awards, including Research Division Accomplishment Award in 2014 & 2017, the Horizon Alumni Award from the University of Alberta, and he is a Senior Member of IEEE.
