12.11.2010

Towards faster and more accurate diagnostics

Much research and development is currently ongoing to design and develop new diagnostic tools for improved early detection and treatment of serious diseases. FiDiPro Professor Kalle Levon is working to develop diagnostic biosensors that are based on electrochemical methods.

"The main challenges we face today in developing diagnostic tools are gaining quick access to test results, self-testing and wireless testing methods," Kalle Levon explains.

Professor Kalle Levon left his native Finland some 30 years ago and has since become one of the world's leading specialists in diagnostic biosensors. Based for the last few years in New York, Professor Levon's main area of expertise is in the use of electrochemical diagnostics methods. His research in this field has attracted significant attention: earlier this year his work to develop a new biosensor earned him the BioAccelerate NYC Prize. Described as fast and reliable, one of the biosensor's possible future applications is in the detection of cancer.

Kalle Levon currently shares his time between New York and Turku, spending six months of the year in each. In Turku, he is based at the Åbo Akademi Process Chemistry Centre, sharing the facilities with his host, Professor Ari Ivaska. It is here in the historical surroundings of Turku Cathedral that Levon and his colleagues are working to develop ever more effective biosensors.

"The main challenges we face today in developing diagnostic tools are gaining quick access to test results, self-testing and wireless testing methods," Kalle Levon explains. "The methods have to be fast, simple and inexpensive. If somewhere in Africa it's a five-hour journey to have an HIV test done, it's clear that people won't necessarily want to go. If the patients can do the test themselves at home or in their home village, then the test results can be forwarded to the doctor at a much earlier stage of the disease."

Simple and inexpensive

One of the key features of the devices developed by Kalle Levon is that they require no complex accessories or trained professionals to operate them. Furthermore, the test results are always very quickly available. A doctor conducting a surgical procedure, for instance, could be able to detect an inflammation in the patient during the course of the operation.

The aim of Levon's and Ivaska's FiDiPro project is to develop a simple and economical measuring device for purposes of genetic diagnostics. The methods used in the device are based on immunodeterminations that allow for easy and fast detection of individual diseases. A microfluid chip will be developed for measurement purposes, with potentiometry used to measure DNA changes. Potentiometry is an economical and easy-to-use method of measurement, and the required measuring equipment is very simple.

Disease mechanisms can be elucidated by analysing proteins. The early diagnosis of cancer is also based on identifying new proteins or changes in protein concentrations. "If we can find an antibody that reacts to the disease process and if we can learn how to produce these antibodies, we'll be able to use them in the biosensor. We can create a biosensor if we can find and develop a factor that reacts specifically to the causative agent of the disease," Levon explains.

FiDiPro paved the way to collaboration

Professor Ari Ivaska is very excited about the new area into which his laboratory has now expanded. "Kalle has paved the way for us into an interesting new line of research. We're now applying the skills and tools of our team in a completely different area. This has really re-energized our work," Professor Ivaska says.

Ari Ivaska, Kalle Levon and PhD student Sara Andersson in FiDiPro lab at Åbo Akademi University.

Ivaska and Levon have closely followed each other's research and progress for decades. They share a research interest in conductive polymers. Ivaska specialises in studying industrial processes, while Levon concentrates on applying polymer chemistry in biomedical and medical research. Ivaska is originally an electrical chemist and engineer by training, Levon in turn is an organic chemist.

"In a sense, we've been conducting our research in parallel, although physically and geographically of course we've been separated from each other." The two men finally had the chance to meet face to face in 2007 when Kalle Levon invited Ari Ivaska to a scientific conference in New York. During their discussions at the conference, they realised that they could pool their efforts and complement each other's work.

"In principle, we've been using the same method and applied it to different lines of study. We share common ground in developing sensors and sensor materials, as well as in analytics," the professors say. "Ari is engaged in some highly sophisticated work on the methods side, providing important added value to our research," Levon continues. "Ivaska's team is recognised the world over for their work, and the whole Process Chemistry Centre is an internationally highly acclaimed unit. I had heard about the research that is done here from several sources."

Cooperation and enterprise

The FiDiPro programme provides a solid and convenient platform for cooperation. Levon's and Ivaska's project is funded by Tekes, the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation, which means that a number of business partners are also involved, including Thermo Fischer, Wallac and the Central Laboratory at Turku University Hospital. "For the first time in my entire career, the hospital and patients are within walking distance; this is really great," Levon comments.

PhD Student Ulriika Mattinen

The cooperation among the two teams has got off to a good start. The office and laboratory facilities are up and running, the PhD thesis writers are working in their respective professors' teams and Kalle Levon is gradually managing to get his everyday routines sorted in Turku. One of the main challenges is how to divide his input between his home university and Åbo Akademi University, because that input is in great demand in New York, too.

"I'm really excited and proud about this FiDiPro opportunity and this four-year research term in Finland," Levon says. "I'm convinced this cooperation will yield mutual dividends, both in terms of promoting research and researcher training."

"As far as I understand, my own contribution to this collaboration comes mainly from the application of the knowledge and expertise I have in a new field, and on the other hand from encouraging enterprise. In the US, the utilisation of patents and new business start-ups from research are much more common than in Finnish academia. As for international exchange and cooperation, I don't think I can add very much: the Process Chemistry Centre and Ari's team have been very strong in that department for a long time."

Text: Riitta Tirronen
Photos: Bo Stranden

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