Institute of Medical Physics and Biophysics
Sasinkova 2, III. floor, 813 72 Bratislava
Head of the Institute: doc. RNDr. Martin K o p á n i, PhD.
tel. +421 2 90119 530
e-mail: martin.kopanifmed.uniba.sk , fyzika.prednostafmed.uniba.sk
Sekretary: Vlasta Andrášová
tel. 02/90119 336, e-mail: fyzika.sekretariatfmed.uniba.sk, vlasta.adrasovafmed.uniba.sk
Information about Institute
At the Institute of physics and biophysics, we are interested in several research fields. One of the topics we focus on is diagnostics of obesity in adolescents using anthropometric measurements, and the importance of standard and nonstandard biochemical markers in patophysiology of cardiometabolic diseases. We are also involved in study of the impact of unhealthy diet on organism in animal models. Specifically, we pay attention to AGEs – advanced glycation end products. Our research includes study of the mechanisms of a treatment modality for oncologic diseases - photodynamic therapy (PDT) that combines effects of visible light and photosensitizing agent, localizing predominantly in tumor tissue, and identification of influencing factors.
In addition, we seek to develop physiologically relevant in vitro tumor models, taking into account complexity and specificity of tumor tissues, in the form of 3D cell cultures. The main experimental methods applied in our research include optical microscopy and UV-VIS spectroscopy.
We deal also with application of various physical methods in study of cells and tissues, mainly from the view of presence of metals (iron, copper) and others, for living body foreign substances, which accumulate in the body for certain reasons (metabolic diseases, environmental factors, ...). We study localisation, distribution, structure and magnetic properties of iron in some brain tissues - substantia nigra and globus pallidus with histological and immunohistological methods. We used both light microscope (polarization, fluorescence) and electron microscope (scanning and transmission) microscopes with energy-dispersive microanalysis and electron diffraction. For investigation of magnetic properties we used Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID) magnetometry and Mössbauer spectroscopy.
Moreover, we deal with the realization of animal experiments for monitoring of cognitive functions, such as: Morris water maze, the open field test, the light/dark preference test, the elevated plus maze test, the forced swim test and the social interaction test. One investigation area of Institute of Medical Physics, Biophysics, Informatics and Telemedicine is also characterization and design of novel sensor and biomonitoring systems. We are part of multidisciplinary research in field of human physiology, psychology and sensor systems.
News
Radana Gurecká and Jaro Varchola
represented Comenius University at the international workshop called
“Modern Topics and Methods in Biomedical Research”
40 people from Poland, Slovakia, Portugal, and the UK have attended the course entitled “Modern Topics and Methods in Biomedical Research” – the first meeting of its kind at our university organised as part of the EU's Blended Intensive Programme (BIP).
