University of Southern Denmark

<p><strong>Overview:</strong></p>
<p>The University of Southern Denmark welcomed the first students onto the campus in Odense in September 1966, and things have been developing by leaps and bounds ever since. SDU now have five faculties with more than 32,000 students, almost 20% of whom are from abroad, and more than 4,000 employees distributed across our main campus in Odense and regional campuses in Slagelse, Kolding, Esbjerg and Sønderborg.</p>
<p>SDU conducts world-class research and are one of the top fifty young universities in the world. Every day more than 2,000 researchers and 32,000 students build on the university’s reputation as a centre of academic excellence.</p>
<p><strong>Research:</strong></p>
<p>The University of Southern Denmark consists of five faculties:</p>
<ul>
<li>Faculty of Engineering</li>
<li>Faculty of Health Sciences</li>
<li>Faculty of Science</li>
<li>Faculty of Business and Social Sciences</li>
<li>Faculty of Humanities</li>
</ul>
<p>Every faculty consists of several departments, where the departments have a noticeable academic and economic independence and responsibility. Together departments and centres cover a wide range of research fields and educational opportunities.</p>
<p><strong>Industry Partnerships:</strong></p>
<p>SDU works purposefully to create dialogue between the university’s researchers and the surrounding society. To promote and make communication and knowledge exchange visible, faculties cooperate with various external parties. These activities are organised in centres. The centres serve to promote special purposes in research, education or knowledge exchange.</p>
<p>SDU RIO (SDU Research &amp; Innovation Organisation) supports collaboration between research, education, the business community and the public sector.</p>


<h1 id="background">Background</h1>
<p>Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine hold enormous potential for a variety of chronic diseases. The aim is to replace whole organs and tissue with engineered tissue constructs reducing the necessity for donor tissue which is limited by low supply and associated with life-long use of immunosuppressant drugs. Tissue constructs are often a combination of biocompatible materials and living cells which due to their complexity make them subject to strict regulatory and quality control requirements that drive up their cost. The manufacturing of engineered tissue categorized as cell-based medicinal products (CBMPs) are required to adhere to GMP regulations and must include an arsenal of tests making up a potency assay representing the products mechanism of action (MOA). </p>
<h1 id="technology-overview">Technology Overview</h1>
<p>R-PT is a bioimaging platform for 3D characterization of lab grown tissue. R-PT harvests rich biomolecular information by combining a computed tomography approach with Raman spectroscopy enabling 3D reconstructions samples non-destructively and without the use of fluorescent labeling or dyes. The technique is characterized by high molecular sensitivity and allows for visualization and identification of major tissue components such as proteins, lipids, DNA/RNA, carbohydrates etc. The technology provides an alternative to disruptive techniques such as fluorescence microscopy and histological analysis for the assessment of tissue components. R-PT can be applied at all stages of tissue manufacturing from initial scaffold characterization to mature tissue construct allowing for unprecedented monitoring, feed-back, and quality control in situ. In addition, the molecular information collected by the system can be directly compared to tissue references or linked to tissue function, and thereby expected MOA. <img src="https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/assets.in-part.com/technologies/figures/CcCEOBvT5S4ImaqxpoCy_fig4.png" alt="Figure 1." /> <img src="https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/assets.in-part.com/technologies/figures/xeDtXubRiOn0pjypxG7L_fig2.png" alt="Figure 2." /> <img src="https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/assets.in-part.com/technologies/figures/bdjQlqwRF62AnkmBqmpM_fig3.png" alt="Figure 3." /></p>
<h3 id="-stage-of-development-"><strong>Stage of Development</strong></h3>
<p>The development of a system for pharmaceutical research applications have been supported for 2 years by GlaxoSmithKline and Galvani Bioelectronics as a CRACK-IT project initiated by NC3Rs. The project is expected to continue until May 2023 with a team of two associate professors and two postdocs.</p>
<p>A prototype and image processing algorithms have been developed and tested. We have demonstrated 3D imaging of lab grown cartilage for visualization of biomolecular components such as collagen and proteoglycans. A study comparing R-PT with histology and mechanical analyses on lab grown cartilage is currently underway. </p>
<h1 id="benefits">Benefits</h1>
<ul>
<li>Quantitative, non-destructive, and label-free 3D imaging.</li>
<li>Biomolecular product characterization.</li>
<li>Versatile product monitoring and quality control.</li>
<li>Biomolecular information directly linked to MOA.</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="applications">Applications</h1>
<p>Can be used for 3D monitoring and visualization of biomolecular components, quality control and process optimization in tissue engineered constructs. Can be applied for non-destructive biomolecular characterization of other lab grown tissues such as organoids and cultured meat. </p>
