Science Park Ambassador Professor Antje Baeumner – »Important Boost for Digital Health in Brandenburg«

The bandage of the future could warn a patient in good time if a wound is causing problems. A sensor would measure the condition of the injury and artificial intelligence would analyse the data. »The patient would receive a message if the wound worsens and needs to be treated,« says Antje Baeumner, Head of the Bioanalytics and Bioprocesses Branch of the Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology IZI-BB in Potsdam Science Park. The innovative diagnostic method could save people suffering from chronic wounds unnecessary visits to the doctor – especially if they live in rural areas.

The sensors require specific capture molecules that can bind the desired markers. These molecules, which include biomolecules such as antibodies as well as synthetic molecules, can all be synthesised and optimised at the Fraunhofer IZI-BB. Depending on the application, the molecules are integrated into a suitable test platform, which can vary from rapid wipe tests and sensors to complex lab-on-a-chip systems that can be used, for example, to monitor living cells in real time for drug development.

Antje Baeumner envisions a future in which precise biochemical sensors, with the support of digital technologies, ensure better medical diagnostics and therefore improved healthcare. Testing would then not necessarily have to take place through a laboratory, as is currently the case, but can also take place on the patient’s doorstep. Just as anyone can take a Covid test at home, decentralised sensors could help to diagnose vitamin deficiencies without a doctor or laboratory, monitor the risk of a heart attack or determine when food has spoiled or environmental toxins are becoming a threat.

The Fraunhofer IZI-BB combines engineering and biochemical expertise to design precise and safe sensors for such tasks – from taking and preparing samples to measuring and analysing them. »A most critical step is how samples are collected and processed to make them measurable in the first place,« says Baeumner. »For instance, a blood marker for heart attacks is present in a concentration that is 1000 times lower than that of blood sugar. We have developed methods to determine even the lowest concentrations of analytes reliably.«

Antje Baeumner, who chairs the largest institute for analytical chemistry in Germany at the University of Regensburg since 2013, is a known expert in bioanalytics and biosensors. In August 2023, she joined the IZI-BB in the Potsdam Science Park as Institute Director to combine academic and application-oriented research. »At Fraunhofer IZI-BB, I have the opportunity to work with companies to find precise solutions to challenges and develop new technologies,« she says. For example, by combining liver cells with sensors that measure cell vitality, an organ-on-a-chip system was developed at the IZI-BB to assess the toxicity of drugs. This system functions like a miniature liver and offers an alternative to animal testing.

»The Potsdam Science Park is primarily home to highly innovative small and medium-sized companies. This is crucial for a positive development of this innovation location.«

As head of the Fraunhofer IZI-BB, Antje Baeumner contributes her expertise in innovative nanomaterials to equip the in-house developed sensors for the future. Nanomaterials can amplify signals in samples to make them measurable. For example, nanovesicles filled with dye molecules can bind to viruses in a blood sample and make them visible – or nanofibres can filter the smallest viruses from the air to subsequently measure them. »We want to expand this unique selling point in terms of sample preparation and processing and thus also make the entire Potsdam Science Park more attractive for diagnostics companies.«

At the Potsdam Science Park, Baeumner has found the ideal environment for turning good ideas and excellent bioanalytical research into innovative technologies. »The Potsdam Science Park enables the networking with industry that we urgently need,« says Baeumner, who, as a passionate jogger, has already grown fond of her new workplace due to the scenic beauty of the surrounding area. »The location management is very careful to ensure that companies are established here that align with the research profile in life sciences, diagnostics, and biotechnology.« This focus is crucial for facilitating precisely the kind of networking that creates synergies, she said.

»The Potsdam Science Park boasts substantial transfer potential due to presence of key forward-thinking players on site. With the university, the Fraunhofer Institutes and the industry, it has three essential building blocks for successful knowledge transfer, especially in the areas of life sciences and health.«

Baeumner sees considerable potential for cooperation and transfer at Potsdam’s growing innovation centre, as the density of future-oriented institutions is increasing, particularly in the life sciences and health sector. Above all, there are close links with the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research IAP. »With the Fraunhofer IAP, we have the expertise here at the site to manufacture medical products from sustainable materials and make them fit for the future in this respect too,« says Baeumner. »Just think of the huge amounts of waste caused by all the Covid tests« In the joint High-Performance Centre »Integration of Biological and Physical-Chemical Material Functions«, both Fraunhofer Institutes in the Potsdam Science Park are pooling their transfer initiatives in order to transfer convincing technologies into application as efficiently as possible.

»The Centre for Digital Diagnostics and the new professorship for Bioanalytics and Data Science, which our institute is establishing with the University of Potsdam at the Potsdam Science Park, are important boosts for digital health in Brandenburg.«

Over the next years, Antje Baeumner intends to strengthen the digital expertise of the Fraunhofer IZI-BB. Together with the University of Potsdam, a new professorship for bioanalytics and data science is being established. The IZI-BB also heads the new Centre for Digital Diagnostics ZDD®, funded by the federal government and the State of Brandenburg with 30 million euros over five years. This investment supports the integration of bioanalytical sensors into digital diagnostic processes – such as intelligent wound monitoring. The aim of the centre is to advance decentralised data collection and AI-supported evaluation in the fields of health, food safety and environmental analysis.

»All in all, this is a very important boost for digital health in Brandenburg,« says Baeumner. »We want to use artificial intelligence and machine learning to create real added value for analytics – many companies will certainly jump on board to take advantage of the innovation opportunities.«

The projects carried out by Standortmanagement Golm GmbH at Potsdam Science Park are funded by the European Union and the Federal State of Brandenburg.
Text: Mirco Lomoth | Photography: sevens[+]maltry