Fraunhofer, with its Institute for Biomedical Engineering IBMT, will be responsible for the technological development of the cell-based screening module and its validation. Further, Fraunhofer is responsible for performing routine in vitro assays for the ToxScore Analysis and for in silico module validation. IBMT will take part in WPs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8.

The main tasks of Fraunhofer will be:

WP1 – Modification of the HISENTS single cell screening module and its coupling with the NM flow through production system

WP2 – Performance of in vitro assays (barrier transport studies and different toxicological endpoints) as input for ToxScore Prediction and the setup of the cell-based screening module at the partners APPNPS and RESCOLL

WP3 – Demonstration of the cell-based screening module in relevant environment

WP5 – Development and delivery of data for the QSAR model and the SbD platform performance.

WP6 – Coupling of the cell-based screening module with the mini-release accelerator and the performance of intercalibration with standard materials

Fraunhofer will also take part in WP7 and will assist the coordinator with WP8.

The Division “Biomedical Microsystems” with its “Microfluidics & Microsensors” group and the Division “Medical Biotechnology” with its Nanotoxicology group will contribute to this project.

The group “Microfluidics & Microsensors” has expertise in designing and fabricating of microfluidic biochip interfaces as well as in the field of bioanalytical system integration. Processing of silicon, glass, polymers and thin films is done in a fully equipped class 100 clean room. Furthermore, other technologies for processing polymer materials such as roll-to-roll hot printing, 3D printing and moulding of elastomers like PDMS are available as well as technologies for assembly and integration.

The group “Nanotoxicology” is acting at the interface of microsystems and cellular molecular biology, providing services in the field of biotechnology, tissue engineering and toxicity analysis. The focus of R&D is the development of new in-vitro cell models and methods for a non-invasive and marker-free characterization of cells and tissues. For evaluation of the feasibility of non-destructive cell characterization, a huge variety of cell and molecular biological methodologies is available in the lab and used on a regular basis.