Aqsens Health

12/08/2025

Two weeks, more than 700 urine samples, and over 120,000 measurement points 🔥

In July, our team joined forces with researchers from Shanghai and Nanjing. Together, we replicated years of learnings from our Finnish prostate cancer studies.

The results will help confirm that our phage-biosensor technology works across genetic backgrounds, diets, and environments, which is the vital next step in validating our phage-biosensors for prostate cancer detection.

🔗 Read more about our trip and what’s next

Aqsens Health’s team traveled to Shanghai to conduct prostate cancer analyses in collaboration with research teams from Nanjing and Shanghai. The goal of the trip was to analyze a large, well-designed urine sample cohort using the latest phage-biosensors. This collaboration combines Finnish biotec...

19/06/2025

Happy Midsummer from Aqsens Health! ☀️

Midsummer, or juhannus in Finnish, is a beloved celebration in Finland that brings together family, friends, nature, good food, and of course, the sauna. In the northern parts of Finland, it’s also the perfect time to admire the magical midnight sun.

Whether you're spending Midsummer in the city or surrounded by nature, the Aqsens team wishes everyone a relaxing and sunny holiday!🌅

03/06/2025

Welcome to the team, Raakel! 💜

We’re delighted to have Raakel Lehmusmäki join Aqsens Health as our summer employee. Currently finalizing her MSc (Tech.) in Biotechnology at the yliopisto - University of Turku, she brings a strong academic background and curiosity that fits in perfectly with our work in biosensor technology 🔬

This summer, Raakel will be supporting our lab operations and gaining hands-on experience in the world of phage-biosensors. We’re excited to be part of her professional journey!

15/05/2025

💬 What does “bifunctional” mean when talking about Aqsens’ biosensors?

Aqsens’ phage-biosensors are bifunctional, meaning that they are engineered to do two tasks simultaneously in a biosensing system. These two functions may be carried out by different phages within the biosensor. Both of these tasks are important in ensuring that the biosensor delivers accurate information in a way that can be easily interpreted.

💡What are the two functions that make up a bifunctional biosensor?

❕Target recognition: the first function the phage-biosensor is engineered to do is to recognize disease targets. These targets are usually molecules that indicate the presence of a disease, such as biomarkers.

❕Signal modulation: the second function of the biosensor is to interact with a color dye that we refer to as a reporter dye.

💡Why is the second function necessary, if the first function already recognizes the disease?

Even though a biosensor can successfully detect a disease target (function 1), it still does not create anything we can measure.

That’s where signal modulation (function 2) comes into play.

When both the disease target and reporter dye are interacting in a sample solution, the reporter dye’s color intensity changes. The same change in color intensity does not occur when there are no disease targets to interact with. This signal modulation makes it possible for us to measure the detection event between the phage and the disease targets in a sample.

True to its name, the reporter dye 'reports' the binding event by producing a detectable signal, which we can measure.

05/05/2025

Every May, the World Bladder Cancer Patient Coalition shines a light on bladder cancer and highlights the importance of awareness and early detection in improving patient outcomes. 📢

We also wanted to do our part in raising awareness by gathering some bladder cancer facts and by discussing the importance of early detection in more detail👇

Go to our blog to read the blog post “Why bladder cancer gets missed and why that needs to change” to learn how you can also take part in this year’s Bladder Cancer Awareness month.

Here’s a link to the blog post 💬
www.aqsens.com/news-and-blog/why-bladder-cancer-gets-missed-and-why-that-needs-to-change-bladder-cancer-awareness-month-2025

30/04/2025

🎈Hyvää vappua! | Glada vappen! | Happy May Day! 🎈

The celebration of Vappu, or first of May, has its roots in the Middle Ages. Nowadays in Finland, it’s among the most popular holidays along with Christmas and Midsummer. Vappu is known as the day of the workers, as well as the day of the students, and celebrations usually begin on Vappu’s Eve (the last day of April).

During these few days, especially in university cities like Turku where we’re also located, you’re bound to see thousands of people wearing their black and white graduation caps, kids with colorful vappu-balloons, and families having a pick-nick by the Aura river or in a park.

Whether you’re in Finland or elsewhere in the world, our team wants to wish you a happy Vappu!🎊

11/02/2025

For the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we are proud to be able to spotlight one of the talented women working in our research team.

Elinda Hermanson, who works as an Application Scientist at Aqsens Health, answered questions about her journey to STEM and how we can encourage and help other girls and women find their paths in the fields of science and technology 👩‍🔬🔬

Read the full story here: https://www.aqsens.com/news-and-blog/what-matters-most-is-the-beautiful-mind-of-the-scientist-international-day-of-women-and-girls-in-science-2025

Since 2015, February 11th has been celebrated as the UN Day for Women and Girls in Science and Technology, a day dedicated to highlighting the achievements o f women in STEM and inspiring future generations to follow their lead. In previous years, we’ve heard from incredible women like our COO Vil...

11/02/2025

Turun yliopistossa on kehitetty lupaava menetelmä, jolla syöpä voidaan mahdollisesti havaita ja luokitella virtsanäytteestä. 👉 https://yle.fi/a/74-20142718

10/02/2025

Our COO Vilhelmiina Juusti's dissertation research on the use of phage biosensors in cancer detection was featured in Turun Sanomat today ⬇️

Here's how she summarised what working with phages is like:

"It's nice to work with phages because they are easy to modify and can be used for many different applications. They can also be produced in large quantities in the laboratory. Phages are durable and low-cost, which makes them an interesting option in biosensor development for current healthcare needs, such as cancer detection."

Congratulations Vilhelmiina, we're so proud to have you on our team 💜

Here's the full article (in Finnish): https://www.ts.fi/uutiset/6565181

Vilhelmiina will defend her dissertation this Friday at the Turun yliopisto - University of Turku 🗓️

Faagibiosensoreita voisi käyttää terveydenhuollossa syövän diagnostiikassa kustannustehokkaasti.

04/02/2025

Aqsens Health is delighted to announce the appointment of Pia Erkinheimo as the Chairperson of the board at Aqsens Health.

Pia’s insights and experience in working with innovations and start-ups will be invaluable to Aqsens Health as we move towards the commercialisation phase of our biosensor method.

Pia took the time to answer a few questions about what inspires her in her work, and how Finnish medtech and biotech companies can make it on the global market.

Read the full interview by clicking the link here: https://www.aqsens.com/news-and-blog/nordic-tech-and-innovation-leader-pia-erkinheimo-appointed-chairperson-of-the-board-at-aqsens-health

We’re very lucky to have your support on this journey, Pia! 💜

hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag

Aqsens Health, the inventor of the groundbreaking phage-biosensor method, is pleased to announce the appointment of Pia Erkinheimo as the Chairperson of the Board of Directors. Her leadership roles in high tech, experience in building up businesses, and connections to the innovation ecosystems both

31/12/2024

As 2024 comes to a close, we are proud to share the highlights, milestones, and innovations that shaped this year for Aqsens Health 🚀

We invite you to read our full 2024 wrap-up and see how together, we’re driving meaningful change and paving the way for a healthier future 🌏 🩺

🔗 Read the full blog post here: https://www.aqsens.com/news-and-blog/aqsens-healths-2024

Here’s to an even brighter 2025 – thank you for being part of this journey with us! Our team wishes everyone a Happy New Year 2025! 🎆 🌟

As 2024 comes to an end, it time to take a look at the highlights of Aqsens Health’s year.

20/12/2024

🌟 Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas from Aqsens Health 🌟

As we celebrate this festive season, we’d like to thank all our partners, collaborators, and supporters for your trust and commitment.

Wishing you a joyous holiday season and a wonderful New Year,
The Aqsens Health team 🎅 🎄