Originally Published MDT October 2009
the interview
MDT’s Five-Minute Interview
Medical Device Technology’s (MDT) series of interviews offers personal perspectives on the diverse and dynamic medical device technology industry. Here, we talk to Gustaaf Borghs.
Q If I wasn’t talking to you right now, what would you be doing?
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Gustaaf Borghs is Senior Fellow at IMEC, Leuven, Belgium
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Q How did you get into the medical device industry?
A IMEC is a micro electronics research centre and for many years we have combined nonstandard approaches with down to earth electronics, as is the case in bioelectronics, which involves a soft–hard interface. We initiated research on bioelectronics approximately 10 years ago, and surprisingly this came after a request for research from industry: Can you find a way to detect affinity reactions with DNA with hopefully a simple electronic device? This, and a request from another company to develop sensors in a micro fluidic system, were the start of our bioelectronics programme. At that time, I was developing research on brain–computer interfaces and nanoparticle sensors. This became part of the larger bioelectronics research under my supervision. I earned a PhD in nuclear physics, but was attracted by the multidisciplinary approaches in bioelectronics. I believe this is the only way to find the future solutions for most of the important questions, ranging from medicine to even energy storage. We are just at the start.
Q What is the best thing about your work?
A I like research. I stay close to it even as a Research Director, I am part of the group. Science is almost never boring (unless it becomes chemistry, which is my joke!) and it has kept me from burnout all these years. Science is philosophy.
Q What do you think is the most important medical device invention ever?
A This is a difficult one. It depends on the definition. I believe that the development of a sewage system in, for example, London, and with it the provision of clean water gave our life expectation the strongest boost in history. But a better answer could be antibiotics or a magnetic resonance imaging system.
Q What should people give attention to?
A Everything that gives us more insight into the functioning of the brain.
Q What is the most exciting development on the horizon?
A When catching up with my scientific reading during the Christmas vacation I was excited by research at Stanford University on switching neurons with light. Transfected mice developed channel rhodopsin proteins in some of their brain cells and this made it possible to study fast on and off switching of these cells and its effect on the brain. I believe this development can have an impact as important as the discovery and development of the green fluorescent protein, which was worth a Nobel price. But maybe I am over exaggerating.
Q What do you want from your suppliers?
A The suppliers in my case are companies often participating in our research. We want, of course, the most advanced equipment and when it comes to sharing research, we want problem-opening avenues with a broad future.
Gustaaf Borghs is Senior Fellow at IMEC, Kapeldreef 75, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium tel. +32 16 281 287, e-mail: gustaaf.borghs@imec.be www.imec.be
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