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Implantable Biosensor Developed at URMC

A new device created at the University of Rochester could provide physicians with real time information about the health of their patients.

The implantable biosensor can be customized for each patient and the part of the body it is monitoring.

Spencer Rosero, Associate Professor of Medicine, created the device—about the size of a watch battery.

“It really is a small device that uses electronics, but also incorporates living cells. Live cells and the cells act as the sensor. The device as a whole, its job is to monitor the cell's response to the environment once it's implanted,” said Rosero.

This device contains a “living chip” that could potentially serve to tell doctors how well a chemotherapy patient is responding to treatment and the level of toxicity in the system.

The biosensor is licensed to Fairport-based Raland Therapeutics.