Imran Avci, Biophotonics and Microscopy researcher, will lead a major international research consortium to develop a new method for analysing cells and microscopic particles. The consortium receives funding from Horizon Europe, the main EU funding programme for research and innovation.
The project will build a multimodal platform that combines photonics, acoustics, and microfluidics in a single system to establish mechanical barcoding as a powerful new tool in microscale sensing.
Acoustic sensor
At the core of the project is an ultrasensitive microlaser‑based acoustic sensor that functions as an optical transducer. Short pulses from microring lasers are used to induce localized photoacoustic excitation in cells, spheroids, or bacteria, generating broadband, low‑amplitude acoustic waves. These pressure transients encode rich information about a sample’s mechanical and structural properties, effectively forming a characteristic mechanical barcode.
The project, titled M‑BARC: Microlaser Acoustic Sensors for Mechanical Barcoding of Cells and Particles, brings together seven partners from six countries, with a total budget of €6 million. The platform is label‑free and non‑contact, enabling quantitative analysis of biological samples without chemical modification or mechanical perturbation.
Better analysis of cells and micro-organisms
In the longer term, this sensing approach could enable faster, more sensitive, and more quantitative analysis of cells and microorganisms across biomedical research, microbiology, and materials science.