At the interface between engineering and medicine lies the field of biomedical engineering. Inherently interdisciplinary, this field is answering important scientific questions related to human diseases. At the forefront of this field is NUSS Professor Lim Chwee Teck.
Recognised for his outstanding contributions to the field of human diseases, his research focuses on human disease mechanobiology, lab-on-chip diagnostics, and flexible wearable devices for disease diagnosis and precision therapy.
One area of focus for Prof Lim’s lab is cancer diagnostics, and in particular, understanding how and why cancer cells become metastatic. During metastasis, it is known that cancer cells change their biophysical properties, resulting in them being more deformable and less adhesive. These changes can lead to severe pathology and a poor prognosis for patients.
Using micro- and nanomechanical tools, Prof Lim investigates why and how such biomechanical changes occur in cancer cells, and how this contributes to metastasis. He has developed a microfluidic cancer biochip which can detect and isolate circulating tumour cells from the peripheral blood of patients (known as a liquid biopsy). This technology has since been commercialised with an FDA listing in USA.
In recent years, wearable technology has seen an increase in research and commercialisation due to new advances in miniaturised sensors and mobile computing. Prof Lim continues to develop the next generation of wearable technologies for healthcare. His work has, for example, led to the development of a smart bandage containing a wearable sensor that is able to perform point-of-care diagnosis of chronic wounds wirelessly. This sensor technology can detect temperature, pH, bacteria type and inflammatory factors specific to chronic wounds just within 15 minutes, enabling fast and accurate wound assessment.
A new highly conductive material that can stretch to 22 times its original length and heal cracks almost instantaneously
Understanding how some cancer cells can survive mechanically-induced cell death to prevent the spread of malignant tumours
Insole embedded with pressure and motion sensors helps identify high risk areas and mitigate workplace incidents
Saw, T. B., Gao, X., Li, M., He, J., Le, A. P., Marsh, S., ... & Lim, C. T. (2022). Transepithelial potential difference governs epithelial homeostasis by electromechanics. Nature Physics, 18 (9), 1122-1128.
Gao, Y., Nguyen, D. T., Yeo, T., Lim, S. B., Tan, W. X., Madden, L. E., ... & Lim, C. T. (2021). A flexible multiplexed immunosensor for point-of-care in situ wound monitoring. Science Advances, 7 (21), eabg9614.
Khoo, B. L., Grenci, G., Lim, Y. B., Lee, S. C., Han, J., & Lim, C. T. (2018). Expansion of patient-derived circulating tumor cells from liquid biopsies using a CTC microfluidic culture device. Nature protocols, 13 (1), 34-58.
Saw, T. B., Doostmohammadi, A., Nier, V., Kocgozlu, L., Thampi, S., Toyama, Y., ... & Ladoux, B. (2017). Topological defects in epithelia govern cell death and extrusion. Nature, 544 (7649), 212-216.
Vedula, S. R. K., Hirata, H., Nai, M. H., Brugués, A., Toyama, Y., Trepat, X., ... & Ladoux, B. (2014). Epithelial bridges maintain tissue integrity during collective cell migration. Nature materials, 13 (1), 87-96.
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