21-10-2021 – INTA Systems: lab-on-a-chip research and development for biosensing applications

NTA Systems (www.intasystems.net) is the first spinoff of the National Research Council of Italy (CNR-NANO) and “Scuola Normale Superiore” (SNS) University of Pisa. INTA operates inside the NEST Laboratory in Pisa, a research center focused on nanoscience and nanotechnology. INTA develops and produces ultrasensitive lab- on-a-chip for portable and rapid fluids analysis. Biomedicine, security, industry 4.0, and food analysis are the main applications. The patented lab-on-a-chip can detect a wide gamut of analytes (e.g., proteins, antibodies, nucleic acids, virus, bacteria) in a few minutes and without the need of specialized facilities. INTA combines knowledge from condensed-matter physics, nanostructures fabrication, innovative techniques for the bioconjugation of molecules, and data analysis based on artificial intelligence algorithms.

BRAIKER is the first biosensing platform of INTA, currently under development. This patented lab-on-a-chip is under engineering and validation for the rapid diagnosis of traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) from blood. BRAIKER will support the diagnosis and the monitoring of TBI patients with fast and decentralized responses, reducing unnecessary computerized axial tomographies (CATs) and magnetic resonances (MRs). The underlying technology of BRAIKER is called nano-acoustics. Namely, surface acoustic waves at ultra-high- frequency (GHz) interact with liquids and molecules to be analyzed. BRAIKER can detect numerous analytes on a small chip thanks to advanced techniques of biomolecules immobilization and artificial intelligence data analysis. Some examples are measles virus in whole human saliva, SARS-CoV- 2 spike protein, legionella, GFAP protein (TBI biomarker), short nucleic acids. BRAIKER can find applications in several fields such as biomedicine, environmental monitoring, contaminants detection, security, industry 4.0, and food analysis. References to scientific and newspaper publications can be found at this link: www.intasystems.net/braiker.

The team of INTA Systems comprises people coming from multidisciplinary fields. Matteo Agostini, CEO of INTA, is a nanotechnology engineer and Ph.D. in molecular biophysics at “Scuola Normale Superiore” University of Pisa (Italy). Marco Cecchini, CTO of INTA, is a physicist and Ph.D. in condensed matter physics at “Scuola Normale Superiore” University of Pisa (Italy) currently first researcher at CNR-NANO Marco Calderisi Data Scientist of INTA is a chemist and Ph.D. in metabolomics at the University of Siena (Italy) CEO of a big-data analysis company “Kode Solutions.” Anna Amati (Eureka! Venture) and Giovanni Polidori (A11 Venture) are delegates from the investment funds. The Mario Negri IRCCS (Bergamo) is supporting the proposing team. Doc. Guido Bertolini, head of the epidemiology lab and former director of GiViTi (Italian group for the evaluation of critical care), is part of the scientific advisory board of this project, together with doc. Andrea Lavinio Neurosciences and Trauma Critical Care Unit (NCCU) and anesthesia Medical Examiner and Clinical Lead Organ Donation – Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.