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PublicationsCysmic on TV news
On February 21, 2023, the “Saarländischer Rundfunk” SR featured Cysmic’s groundbreaking work in blood research. The segment featured Dr. Greta Simionato and Dr. Steffen Recktenwald, who demonstrated Cysmic’s Erysense measurement system. This innovative system, powered by artificial intelligence, accurately determines the deformability of red blood cells in small synthetic capillaries, providing a comprehensive assessment of blood sample quality. The program showcased current research findings on the shelf life of blood supplies and the effects of COVID-19 on blood flow in the human body, obtained through collaborative efforts between Cysmic, Saarland University, and other national and international institutes.
During the feature, CEO Dr. Stephan Quint introduced the heart of the Erysense technology—the microfluidic chip. This proprietary chip, developed by Cysmic, is employed for precise blood measurements. Its remarkable distinguishing factor lies in the numerous microchannels within the chip, each approximately 10 times thinner than a human hair. Cysmic ensures the production of these microchannels with utmost precision and at a large scale. In conclusion, Dr. Quint underscored the significance of Cysmic and Erysense in advancing blood research and providing a viable solution to the ongoing shortage of blood supplies.
Link (minutes 4:10-7:42):
CES 2023 in Las Vegas
Cysmic joined the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) – the most influential tech event in the world. CES took place in Las Vegas, NV, from January 5th to 8th, 2023, proving ground for breakthrough technologies and global innovators.
Prior to the main event, the Cysmic delegation participated in the Silicon Valley Funding Summit – a networking and pitching event hosted by European Commission’s ENRICH in the USA initiative and Angel Launch to connect multi-million dollar investors to global startups for funding and deal-making. Dr. Steffen M. Recktenwald pitched on behalf of Cysmic at the funding summit. The jury selected Cysmic and its pitch as one of the top four of the event.
During CES, Cysmic joined myGlobalVillage – an international alliance from five continents to bring together the best technologies from one country with decision-makers and investors from other countries. Cysmic gave a 90-second pitch about our Erysense technology, which was awarded second place as Best Solutions in #HealthTech and #MedTech.
CES presented a perfect opportunity for Cysmic to get exposure to professionals around the world, establish new business relationships and learn about the latest market trends in the biomedical sector. It is also an opportunity to participate in high-level pitching events and meet experts in different fields.
93rd Annual Meeting of The Society of Rheology
The 93rd Annual Meeting of The Society of Rheology (SoR) was held in Chicago, Illinois on October 9-13, 2022. Dr. Steffen M. Recktenwald participated on behalf of Cysmic and presented our latest results in his talk “Microfluidic single-cell shape analysis as a biomarker for pathophysiological red blood cell capillary flow” in the Biomaterials and Biofluid Dynamics session of the meeting. Additionally, his poster “AI-powered single-cell analysis to probe in-vitro capillary blood flow” won first place (“Best Postdoctoral Fellow Poster Award”) in the poster session, highlighting the interest of the research community in our Cysmic technology including point-of-care devices for blood quality assessment and diagnostics.
Beyond Science…
Cysmic established a collaboration with the Saar University of Fine Arts (Hochschule der Bildenden Künste Saar). Based on our microscopy images, we aimed at creating visual art concepts with the scope of sensitizing people to donate blood. Art students proposed original advertising ideas, such as hanging 3D cell models, artistic installations and sculptures of cells, animations to be projected on street screens, plasters with red blood cell emojis, and plate sets with red blood cell patterns. Such creations were presented at an official event in our office. We thank Prof. Gabriele Langendorf, Markus Spang, and Hannes Käfer for their collaboration in this interdisciplinary project.
Meeting of the European Red Cell Society
The 24th meeting of the European Red Cell Society (ERCS) “The horizons in red cell research,” was held from April 7-11, 2022 in Gazzada Schiano (Varese, Italy) at the historic Villa Cagnola. The conference focused on new studies, scientific discoveries, and molecular bases of red cell diseases bringing together authoritative scientists from around the world.
Cysmic was one of the sponsors of the ERCS meeting and presented the latest technologies applied to the study of red blood cells and membranes. Cysmic CEO Dr. Stephan Quint introduced the Erysense technology in his talk “Erysense: An automated point-of-care device for blood quality assessment”. Dr. Greta Simionato further highlighted the potential of Erysense for therapy monitoring in her presentation “Red blood cells influence blood flow and plasma content in severe COVID-19”. The meeting also featured a poster session and Cysmic Ph.D. student Marcelle Lopes won the award for the best scientific poster presentation – congratulations!
Cross-talk between red blood cells and plasma of COVID-19 patients
The Erysense technology
Red blood cells are biomarkers of various diseases and pathological conditions and are affected by medical treatments. Most blood-derived diagnostics are performed in stasis – a condition that does not reflect the constant flow that red blood cells undergo in the circulatory system. In addition, the parameters currently used are based on average values obtained from a heterogeneous population of red blood cells. These limitations prevent a representative and complete analysis of their characteristics.
Here, we introduce the Erysense technology – a diagnostic approach based on the dynamic morphologies of red blood cells in capillary flow. The red blood cell morphology is highly sensitive to external influences as well as intrinsic properties, such as the cytoplasm viscosity, cytoskeletal structure, membrane permeability, and stiffness. These parameters determine red blood cell shapes in flow, which can result dramatically altered in diseases, after medical treatment, or induced by drugs.
Erysense uses in vitro microfluidic techniques and automated methods, including artificial neural networks, for an unbiased analysis of red blood cell shape and flow properties. In this proof-of-concept study, we demonstrate the applicability of Erysense:
(i) as a diagnostic tool of diseases
(ii) for dialysis monitoring
(iii) to assess the quality of stored blood
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Kontakt
stephan.quint@cysmic.de