Andrea Cavallini

Scientist

andrea.cavallini@epfl.ch http://www.linkedin.com/pub/andrea-cavallini/7/76/428

EPFL > VPA-AVP-CP > ESSTECH > ESSTECH-GE

Biography

Andrea Cavallini got a bachelor degree in Pharmaceutical Biotechnology at the University of Ferrara and a master degree in Molecular Biotechnology at the University of Bologna. Currently, he is a PhD student in Microsystems and Microelectronics at the Ecole Politechnique Federale de Lausanne (EFPL), under the direction of professors Sandro Carrara and Giovanni de Micheli. His main research interest focuses on the development of point-of-care and implantable cytochrome P450 nanobiosensors for diagnostic applications. He also did research in the characterization and biofunctionalization of thin films for the realization of label free DNA microarrays based on capacitance detection.

PhD THESIS TOPIC

IMPLANTABLE BIOSENSOR SYSTEM FOR THERAPEUTIC DRUG MONITORING APPLICATIONS Developing operational stand-alone biosensor components is a task commonly performed within the scientific community, and it is suitable for proof-of-principle evaluation or preliminary sensor characterization. However, a mature diagnostic device is an integrated system which has to take in account constraints from different disciplines. The objective of this PhD project is the development of a fully implantable biosensor system for therapeutic drug monitoring applications. The thesis presents innovative research on: Nanobiosensors for drugs and metabolites detection. Electrochemical detection of common marketed drugs and drug cocktails with biosensors, as well as detection of glucose and ATP has been achieved with biosensors based on P450 enzymes, glucose oxidase and hexokinase. Carbon nanotubes have been employed as support for the immobilization of the biosensor proteins. The realized nanobiosensors provided increased sensitivity and detection limit, allowing the detection of drugs in their therapeutic range in undiluted human serum. System design, fabrication, and integration. A miniaturized passive substrate capable to host 5 independent biosensor electrodes, a pH sensor, a temperature sensor as well as the interface for the signal processing electronics has been designed, microfabricated and tested. Different and reproducible nano-bio-functionalization for the single biosensors was obtained with high spatial resolution via selective electrodeposition of chitosan/carbon nanotubes/enzyme solutions at the various electrodes. The array, completely realized with biocompatible materials, was then integrated with a CMOS circuit and a remote powering coil for the realization of a fully implantable device . System packaging and biocompatibility assessment. The assembled system has been packaged with an inner moisture barrier in parylene C, to prevent circuit corrosion and toxic metals leaking, and an external biocompatible silicone shell to improve the host tolerance and reduce the local inflammation. The efficacy of the parylene barrier, as well as the toxicity of carbon nanotubes, has been assessed with in-vitro cytotoxicity tests conform to the ISO-109931 standards. The final packaged device was then implanted in mice for 7 and 30 days to assess its biocompatibility. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBa41wej-NE

AWARDS

"Best Poster Award" at the 7th Nanoeurope symposium - Rapperswil 2009 "Bronze Leaf Award" at PRIME 2010 conference (Berlin, 19-21 july)

Publications

Infoscience publications

Recent Publications

A. Cavallini, C. Boero, G. De Micheli and S. Carrara. CNT and proteins for bioelectronics in personalized medicine, in Hand Book of Bioelectronics: Directly Interfacing Electronics and Biological Systems, num. II, p. 109-121, 2015.Detailed recordC. Baj-Rossi, A. Cavallini, T. Rezzonico Jost, M. Proietti and F. Grassi et al. Biocompatible Packagings for Fully Implantable Multi-Panel Devices for Remote Monitoring of Metabolism. Biomedical Circuits and Systems Conference (BiOCAS 2015), Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 2015. Detailed record - Full TextA. Cavallini, T. Rezzonico Jost, S. S. Ghoreishizadeh, J. Olivo and M. Op de Beeck et al. A Subcutaneous Biochip for Remote Monitoring of Human Metabolism: Packaging and Biocompatibility Assessment, in IEEE Sensors Journal, vol. 15, num. 1, p. 417-424, 2015.Detailed record - Full Text - View at publisherS. S. Ghoreishizadeh, C. Baj-Rossi, A. Cavallini, S. Carrara and G. De Micheli. An Integrated Control and Readout Circuit for Implantable Multi-Target Electrochemical Biosensing, in IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems, vol. 8, num. 6, p. 891-898, 2014.Detailed record - View at publisherI. Taurino, A. Magrez, F. Matteini, A. Cavallini and L. Forró et al. High-Performance Multipanel Biosensors Based on a Selective Integration of Nanographite Petals, in ACS Nano Letters, vol. 14, num. 6, p. 3180-3184, 2014.Detailed record - View at publisherC. Baj-Rossi, T. Rezzonico Jost, A. Cavallini, F. Grassi and G. De Micheli et al. Continuous monitoring of Naproxen by a cytochrome P450-based electrochemical sensor, in Biosensors and Bioelectronics, vol. 53, p. 283-287, 2014.Detailed record - Full Text - View at publisherA. Cavallini, G. De Micheli and S. Carrara (Dirs.). An implantable biosensor array for personalized therapy applications. EPFL, Lausanne, 2013.Detailed record - Full Text - View at publisherS. Carrara, L. Bolomey, C. Boero, A. Cavallini and E. Meurville et al. Remote System for Monitoring Animal Models With Single-Metabolite Bio-Nano-Sensors, in IEEE Sensors Journal, vol. 13, num. 3, p. 1018 - 1024, 2013.Detailed record - Full Text - View at publisherA. Cavallini, C. Baj-Rossi, S. Ghoreishizadeh, G. De Micheli and S. Carrara. Design, fabrication, and test of a sensor array for perspective biosensing in chronic pathologies. IEEE Biomedical Circuits and Systems Conference (BioCAS 2012), Hsinchu, Taiwan, 2012. Detailed record - Full TextS. Carrara, A. Cavallini, S. Ghoreishizadeh, J. Olivo and G. De Micheli. Developing Highly-Integrated Subcutaneous Biochips for Remote Monitoring of Human Metabolism. IEEE Sensors Conference, Taipei, Taiwan, IEEE Sensors, 2012. Detailed record - Full TextS. Carrara, S. S. Ghoreishizadeh, J. Olivo, I. Taurino and C. Baj-Rossi et al. Fully Integrated Biochip Platforms for Advanced Healthcare, in Sensors, vol. 12, num. 8, p. 11013-11060, 2012.Detailed record - Full Text - View at publisherA. Cavallini, G. De Micheli and S. Carrara. Comparison of Three Methods of Biocompatible Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Confinement for the Development of Implantable Amperometric Adenosine-5′-Triphosphate Biosensors, in Sensor Letters, vol. 9, num. 5, p. 1838-1844, 2011.Detailed record - View at publisherS. Carrara, L. Bolomey, C. Boero, A. Cavallini and E. Meurville et al. Single-Metabolite Bio-Nano-Sensors and System for Remote Monitoring in Animal Models. IEEE Sensors 2011 Conference, Limerick, Ireland, 2011. Detailed record - Full TextS. Carrara, A. Cavallini, V. Erokhin and G. De Micheli. Multi-panel drugs detection in human serum for personalized therapy, in Biosensors and Bioelectronics, vol. 26, num. 9, p. 3914-3919, 2011.Detailed record - Full Text - View at publisherS. Carrara, M. D. Torre, A. Cavallini, D. De Venuto and G. De Micheli. Multiplexing pH and Temperature in a Molecular Biosensor. IEEE BIOCAS 2010 Conference, Paphos, Cyprus, 2010. Detailed record - Full TextA. Cavallini, S. Carrara, G. De Micheli and V. Erokhin. P450-mediated electrochemical sensing of drugs in human plasma for personalized therapy. 6th Conference on Ph.D. Research in Microelectronics and Electronics (PRIME), Berlin, Germany, 2010. Detailed record - Full TextS. Carrara, A. Cavallini, Y. Leblebici, G. De Micheli and V. Bhalla et al. Capacitance DNA bio-chips improved by new probe immobilization strategies, in MicroelectronicsJournal, num. 41, p. 711-717, 2010.Detailed record - Full Text - View at publisherS. Carrara, A. Cavallini, Y. Maruyama, E. Charbon and G. De Micheli. A new ethylene glycol-silane monolayer for highly-specific DNA detection on Silicon Chips, in Surface Science Letters, vol. 604, num. 23-24, p. L71-L74, 2010.Detailed record - Full Text - View at publisherS. Carrara, L. Benini, V. Bhalla, C. Stagni and A. Ferretti et al. New insights for using self-assembly materials to improve the detection stability in label-free DNA-chip and immuno-sensors, in Biosensors & Bioelectronics, vol. 24, p. 3425-3429, 2009.Detailed record - Full Text - View at publisherS. Carrara, A. Cavallini, Y. Leblebici, G. De Micheli and V. Bhalla et al. New probe immobilizations by lipoate-diethalonamine or ethylene-glycol molecules for capacitance DNA chip. 3rd IEEE International Workshop on Advances in Sensors and Interfaces (IWASI), Trani, Italy, 2009. Detailed record - Full TextS. Carrara, A. Cavallini, A. Garg and G. De Micheli. Dynamical Spot Queries to Improve Specificity in P450s based Multi-Drugs Monitoring. IEEE/ICME International Conference on Complex Medical Engineering, Tempe, Arizona, USA, 2009. Detailed record - Full TextS. Carrara, A. Cavallini, G. De Micheli, J. Olivo and L. Benini et al. Circuits Design and Nano-Structured Electrodes for Drugs Monitoring in Personalized Therapy. IEEE Biomedical Circuits and Systems Conference (BioCAS), Baltimore, Maryland, USA, 2008. Detailed record - Full Text