Our laboratory is to develop miniature functional systems to enable quantitative biomedical research on subcellular&cellular, tissue and organ levels. In particular, our research applies micro- & nanofabrication technologies to reveal the interactions between biological objects and their immediate environments, and explore the use of such interactions for biosensing and bioactuating. The research activities includes spans from device development, characterization to functionality testing and biomedical applications.

Non-Conventional Micro- & Nanofabrication

Micro-total-analytical-systems for on-chip biomedical research are usually made of a combination of conventional materials (e.g. silicon, metal) and non-conventional materials (e.g. polymer). Many of these materials are not readily compatible with photolithographic processes that have been used over decades. To integrate these materials and realize certain functionalities for on-chip applications, we work on non-conventional micro- & nanofabrication technologies, which are expected to compliment the currently used fabrication processes to deliver functional miniature systems.

Cellular Biomechanics

Micro- & Nanofabricated structures have the similar feature sizes as the cellular objects and have superior mechanical sensitivities. We develop cellular biosensors using such structures to determine mechanical signals generated by the cellular objects in response to different physiologic conditions. The measurements also reveal the interactions between the cellular objects and their immediate environments.

Tissue Engineering

With the help of micro- & nanofabricated systems, we develop technologies for assembling cellular & subcellular objects to form functional structures that can potentially be used to repair or replace damaged tissues in the patients. In particular, we investigate the behaviors of individual cells and cell-cell interactions during assembly.

We also develop systems for medical & clinical applications to help the understanding of medical therapies. In particular, we develop quantitative systems to determine the effectiveness of physical therapies. The miniature devices integrated in such systems, along with those obtained in the cellular study, enable multi-scale measurements of different biomedical signals.