Dr. Christoph Westerhausen
Telefon: | +49 821 598 - 3311 |
Fax: | +49 821 598 - 3225 |
E-Mail: | |
Raum: | 335 (R) |
Adresse: | Universitätsstraße 1 (Physik Nord), 86159 Augsburg |
Link zur Medizinischen Fakultät
Forschungsschwerpunkte

Cell manipulation and stimulation
- Acoustical stimulation of cell proliferation and migration
- Cell adhesion under flow
- Neural networks
- Acoustic Live Cell Sensing of wound healing, migration and adhesion
Thermodynamics of membranes
- Correlation of membrane state and enzyme activity
- Nanoparticle uptake in cells and lipid vesicles
- Drug uptake in cells
Cell-Cell interaction in Malaria
- Dynamics of red blood cell aggregates (rosettes)
New Biomaterials
- Wear resist and antibacterial diamond-like carbon surface modifications for implants
Acoustic Waves in fluidics
- Fast mixing at low Reynolds numbers for creation of therapeutic nanoparticles
- Sound and shear enhanced drug uptake in cells
Acoustophotocatalysis
- Employing SAW in heterogeneous catalysis
Video examples:
SAW induced cell stimulation (speeded up)
Red Blood Cell Aggregates in a capillary network (slowed down)
NEWS
>> Research: Congratulations! Sixuan´´`s paper “Surface acoustic wave enhanced water splitting reaction with methanol as sacrifice material” is accepted and will appeared soon in Catalysis Science and Technology of the RSC.
https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2021/CY/D0CY01788D#!divAbstract
Key points:
- SAW (Rayleigh waves) enhance water splitting using a Pt/TiO2 catalyst by more than +100%
- The SAW accompanying electric field is crucial
>> Research: Our paper “Shear-Horizontal Surface Acoustic Wave Sensor for Non-Invasive Monitoring of Dynamic Cell Spreading and Attachment in Wound Healing Assays” is accepted and will appear soon in Biosensors and Bioelectronics (Vol 173 (2021) 112807).
Download for free till Januar 8th 2021: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1c62U3PVtpkTxg
Key points:
- Love waves allow for non-optical sensing of wound-healing-assays
- Changes in cell adhesion strength influence the effective permittivity
- Monitoring of culture conditions, like changes in osmolarity, is easily possible
- Cell detachment kinetics can be measured quantitatively without microscopy
>> Research: Congratulations to our team, especially Manu, Kathi and Sophie! Our paper “Vibration enhanced cell growth induced by surface acoustic waves as in vitro wound healing model” will appear soon appeared in PNAS.
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2005203117
Key points:
- SAW enhanced proliferation
- SAW enhanced migration up to +135%
- wave type is crucial (vertical substrate deflection)
- effect conserved for various cell lines
>> Funding: Nicolas Färber just has been awarded with a Add-on Fellowship for Interdisciplinary Life Science 2020 of the Joachim-Herz-Stiftung! We congratulate Nico and thank the funders!
>> Research and Funding: We recently got funding for our collaboration project „Physical and functional interaction mechanisms at cell membranes and vessel walls“
Collaborators:
- Dr. Stefanie Grützner (Transfusionsmedizin und Hämostaseologie)
- Dr. Torsten Gloe (Physiologie)
- Prof. Dr. Udo Jeschke (Interdisziplinäres onkologisches Forschungslabor)
- Prof. Dr. Achim Wixforth (Experimentalphysik I)
- Prof. Dr. Julia Welzel (Klinik für Dermatologie und Allergologie)
https://www.uni-augsburg.de/de/fakultaet/med/forschung/forschungsfoerderung/gefoerderte-projekte/
>> Research: Anna´’s paper “Blood group and size dependent stability of P. falciparum infected red blood cell aggregates in capillaries” appeared in Biomicrofluidics!
>> paper: download here https://aip.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/1.5125038
>> Research: The summary on our successful ITN SAWTrain can be found online now!
>> Research: Patta´s paper “Fission of Lipid-Vesicles by Membrane Phase Transitions in Thermal Convection” just appeared in Scientific Reports!
>> paper: download here (open access)
>> Research: Sascha´s, Andrej´s and Sven´s paper “Smart antimicrobial efficacy employing pH-sensitive ZnO-doped DLC coatings” just got accepted and will appeared soon in Scientific Reports!
>> press release: read more
>> paper: download here (open access)
>> Research: Anna, Andrej, Manuel, Nico and Lukas presented their results in Venice at the CeNS/CRC235 Workshop 2019 "Evolving Nanosciences"
Anna Jötten, Talk: "Stability of P. falciparum infected red blood cell aggregates under flow".

>> Research: The "2019 Surface Acoustic Waves Roadmap" appeared in Journal of Physics D!
>> Teaching: Sophie was interviewed about her bachelor thesis in our lab!
>> Research: Our paper “Ion controlled passive nanoparticle uptake in lipid vesicles in theory and experiment” just appeared in Journal of Physics D!
>> Research: We recently presented our results on the conference POEM2 in Bad Honnef
- Manuel Brugger, Poster: "Orchestrating cells on a chip employing standing surface acoustic waves towards neural networks"
- Andrej Kamenac, Poster: "Enzyme activity at lipid membranes – correlation of activity and membrane state of an intrinsically water soluble enzyme"
- Lukas Schnitzler, Poster: "Influence of artificial "fluctuations" on enzyme Activity in supported lipid bilayers induced by standing acoustic waves".
- Christoph Westerhausen, Talk: "Correlation of uptake and release of cells and vesicles with shear flow and membrane state". >> to the talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7S9JWasUls
>> Research: Lukas´ paper “Size tunable nanoparticle formation employing droplet fusion by acoustic streaming applied to polyplexes” just got accepted and will appear on April 8th 2019 in the Special Issue on Surface Acoustic Waves in Semiconductor Nanosystems in Journal of Physics D!
>> Research: Finding the Achilles heel of a malaria parasite
To see a short project description of our collaborators at the Karolinska Institute click below!
https://kaw.wallenberg.org/en/research/finding-achilles-heel-malaria-parasite
>> Other Activities: Congratulations - EXP1 wins the soccer cup of the institute of physics!

>> Teaching & Outreach: today 25 high school students discovered our research on novel implant materials and cell manipulation employing Surface Acoustic Waves. Hope to see you in some years studying material science or physics!

>> Research: Anna´s & Sebastian´s paper “Correlation of in vitro cell adhesion, local shear flow and cell density,” just appeared in RSC Advances! In this paper we introduce our "Particle Image Velocimetry Detachment Correlation" algorithm, use it to elucidate the role of cell density for detachment, and find astoninishing agreement with Mario´s 2017 simulation paper.
download the paper here (open access)
>> Research: Jochen´s paper “Optimizing lateral homogeneity of ion-induced surface modifications of non-planar dielectric polyethylene components employing ion fluence simulations and optical measurements of the sp2-dependent reflectivity,” just appeared in Nucl. Inst. Methods Phys. Res. B Volume 433, 15 October 2018, Pages 98-105!
https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1XYra,3rKY4lLY
>> 2. Biophysics Workshop - great talks, wonderful discussions and many ideas!
>> Research: Manuel´s paper together with our collaborators at UCSB “Orchestrating cells on a chip: employing surface acoustic waves towards the formation of neural networks” appeared today in Physical Review E! https://journals.aps.org/pre/pdf/10.1103/PhysRevE.98.012411
>> Research: Our paper “Ionic strength and the supporting material strongly influence the adhesion of silica to supported lipid bilayers” appeared in Advanced Biosystems! https://doi.org/10.1002/adbi.201800087
>> Sascha Buchegger graduated on December 18th - Congratulations!
>> Research: We are very proud, that our collaboration project on the simulation of endovascular aneurysm sealing systems with the vascular surgery team at the Klinikum Augsburg was awarded the Dr. Wolfbauer Prize in the category "Interdisciplinary work with UNIKA-A/UniA". This great success is based on the excellent master thesis of Lukas Schnitzler!

>> Teaching & Outreach: “Nanu, Nano?” At four afternoons, 30 curious and excited high school students discovered the physics of nanometer sized model systems for cell membranes and lab-on-a-chip applications. Thank you, Manuel and Andrej, for sharing your enthusiasm with the next generation physicists!

>> Visiting the nuclear power plant in Gundremmingen - Very impressive machinery and technology!
>> Research: Thanks to the organizing team of the fantastic CeNS Workshop 2017 "Design and Control of NanoSystems" in Venice! (https://www.cens.de/calendar/workshops-events/venice-2017/)
>> 1. Biophysics Workshop SDR - Thank you for your great contributions!

>> Research: Sascha´s paper "Multilayer diamond-like amorphous carbon coatings produced by ion irradiation of polymer films" was just recently published in Surface and Coatings Technology!
>> Visiting a hip endoprothesis operation at the Zentralklinikum Augsburg - A very interesting day and so many ideas for collaborations!

>> Research: Anna, Andrej and Manuel presented their cool results on the European Biophysics Congress in Edinburgh:
Anna Jötten, Poster: "Red blood cell aggregates in malaria - the role of flow"
Andrej Kamenac, Poster: " Enzyme Activity at Lipid Membranes – Correlation of Activity and Membrane State"
Manuel Brugger, Talk: "Orchestrating cells on a chip employing standing surface acoustic waves towards neural networks".

>> Research: Thanks to the organizing team of the "sawsome" Summer School "Physics and applications of GHz vibrations" in Cargése (http://summerschool.sawtrain.eu/about.html)!

>> Outreach: Sixuan´s project as part of the ITN SAWTrain is featured by the "Forschungsbeilage" of the Augsburger Allgemeine (http://www.youblisher.com/p/1850399-/)!
>> Research: Mario´s paper "Influence of neighboring adherent cells on laminar flow induced shear stress in vitro - a systematic study" has just been accepted published by Biomicrofluidics and appeared in the April issue!
http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/journal/bmf/11/2/10.1063/1.4979295
>> Melanie Stamp graduated on March 28th - Congratulations!
>> Research: Melanie´s paper "Exploring the limits of cell adhesion under shear stress within physiological conditions and beyond on a chip" studying the role of pH, temperature and substrate roughness under flow, appeared today in Diagnostics 2016, 6(4),38;
http://www.mdpi.com/2075-4418/6/4/38/html
>> Teaching: New lecture “Physics of cells” (Physics, Masters level) started October 2016
>> Research: Find our latest article on “Controllable Acoustic Mixing of Fluids in Microchannels for the Fabrication of Therapeutic Nanoparticles” based on Lukas work that appeared in Micromachines 2016, 7(9), 150; http://www.mdpi.com/2072-666X/7/9/150/html
>> Research: Sascha´s paper “Antibacterial metal ion release from diamond-like carbon modified surfaces for novel multifunctional implant materials” is the cover and appears in JMR 31(17), September 14, 2016.
>> Research: Out now: “Acoustotaxis - In vitro stimulation in a wound healing assay employing surface acoustic waves” Biomaterials Science, DOI: 10.1039/C6BM00125D
Get article here!
>> Research: We proudly present... ARAM - an awesome tool for Malaria Research and Microscopy!
- Download publication
here!
Publikationen
2021
Manuel S. Brugger, Lukas G. Schnitzler, Timo Nieberle, Achim Wixforth, and Christoph Westerhausen
“Shear-Horizontal Surface Acoustic Wave Sensor for Non-Invasive Monitoring of Dynamic Cell Spreading and Attachment in Wound Healing Assays”
Biosensors and Bioelectronics, accepted 2020, Vol. 173 (2021) 112807
Sixuan Wang, Rudolf Herrmann, Alexander Reiner, Achim Wixforth, and Christoph Westerhausen
„Surface acoustic wave enhanced water splitting reaction with methanol as sacrifice material“
RSC Catalysis Science and Technology, accepted, 2020
2021 |
Manuel S. Brugger, Lukas G. Schnitzler, Timo Nieberle, Achim Wixforth und Christoph Westerhausen
|
Sixuan Wang, Rudolf Herrmann, Alexander Reiner, Achim Wixforth und Christoph Westerhausen
|
2020 |
Anna Martina Jötten, Kirsten Moll, Mats Wahlgren, Achim Wixforth und Christoph Westerhausen
|
Lukas Bergerhausen, Julius Grosche, Juliane Meißner, Christina Hecker, Michele F. Caliandro, Christoph Westerhausen, Andrej Kamenac, Maryam Rezaei, Matthias Mörgelin, Gereon Poschmann, Dietmar Vestweber, Eva-Maria Hanschmann und Johannes A. Eble
|
U. Ratzel, O. Bayer, P. Bracht, Martin Hoffmann, Kai Jänke, Karl-Jürgen Kiesel, Clemens Mehnert, Christoph Scheck, Christoph Westerhausen, K.-G. Krapf, L. Herrmann und Janosch Blaul
|
Manuel S. Brugger, Kathrin Baumgartner, Sophie C. F. Mauritz, Stefan C. Gerlach, Florian Röder, Christine Schlosser, Regina Fluhrer, Achim Wixforth und Christoph Westerhausen
|
2019 |
A. M. Jötten, S. Angermann, M. E. M. Stamp, D. Breyer, Florian G. Strobl, Achim Wixforth und Christoph Westerhausen
|
Patrick W. Kudella, Katharina Preißinger, Matthias Morasch, Christina F. Dirscherl, Dieter Braun, Achim Wixforth und Christoph Westerhausen
|
Florian G. Strobl, D. M. Czubak, Achim Wixforth und Christoph Westerhausen
|
Lukas G Schnitzler, Stefanie Junger, Dominik M Loy, Ernst Wagner, Achim Wixforth, Andreas Hörner, Ulrich Lächelt und Christoph Westerhausen
|
Sascha Buchegger, Andrej Kamenac, Sven Fuchs, Rudolf Herrmann, Pia Houdek, Christian Gorzelanny, Andreas Obermeier, Stephan Heller, Rainer Burgkart, Bernd Stritzker, Achim Wixforth und Christoph Westerhausen
|
Per Delsing, Andrew N. Cleland, Martin J. A. Schuetz, Johannes Knörzer, Géza Giedke, J. Ignacio Cirac, Kartik Srinivasan, Marcelo Wu, Krishna Coimbatore Balram, Christopher Bäuerle, Tristan Meunier, Christopher J. B. Ford, Paulo V. Santos, Edgar Cerda-Méndez, Hailin Wang, Hubert J. Krenner, Emeline D. S. Nysten, Matthias Weiß, Geoff R. Nash, Laura Thevenard, Catherine Gourdon, Pauline Rovillain, Max Marangolo, Jean-Yves Duquesne, Gerhard Fischerauer, Werner Ruile, Alexander Reiner, Ben Paschke, Dmytro Denysenko, Dirk Volkmer, Achim Wixforth, Henrik Bruus, Martin Wiklund, Julien Reboud, Jonathan M. Cooper, YongQing Fu, Manuel S. Brugger, Florian Rehfeldt und Christoph Westerhausen
|
2018 |
Christoph G. Wittmann, Andrej Kamenac, Florian G. Strobl, Dietmar Czubak, Achim Wixforth und Christoph Westerhausen
|
Jochen Taiber, Sascha Buchegger, Bernd Stritzker, Achim Wixforth und Christoph Westerhausen
|
Manuel S. Brugger, Sarah Grundeen, Adele Doyle, Luke Theogarajan, Achim Wixforth und Christoph Westerhausen
|
2017 |
Mario Djukelic, Achim Wixforth und Christoph Westerhausen
|
Sascha Buchegger, Natascha Schuster, Bernd Stritzker, Achim Wixforth und Christoph Westerhausen
|
2016 |
Patrick W. Kudella, Kirsten Moll, Mats Wahlgren, Achim Wixforth und Christoph Westerhausen
|
Melanie E. M. Stamp, Manuel S. Brugger, Achim Wixforth und Christoph Westerhausen
|
Sascha Buchegger, Caroline Vogel, Rudolf Herrmann, Bernd Stritzker, Achim Wixforth und Christoph Westerhausen
|
Christoph Westerhausen, Lukas G. Schnitzler, Dominik Wendel, Rafał Krzysztoń, Ulrich Lächelt, Ernst Wagner, Joachim O. Rädler und Achim Wixforth
|
Melanie E. M. Stamp, Anna M. Jötten, Patrick W. Kudella, Dominik Breyer, Florian G. Strobl, Thomas M. Geislinger, Achim Wixforth und Christoph Westerhausen
|
Melanie E. M. Stamp, Manuel S. Brugger, Achim Wixforth und Christoph Westerhausen
|
U. Ratzel, L. Herrmann, Christoph Westerhausen, O. Bayer, K.-G. Krapf, M. Hoffmann, J. Blaul und C. Mehnert
|
2014 |
Florian G. Strobl, Florian Seitz, Christoph Westerhausen, Armin Reller, Adriano A. Torrano, Christoph Bräuchle, Achim Wixforth und Matthias F. Schneider
|
2012 |
Christoph Westerhausen, Florian G. Strobl, Rudolf Herrmann, A. T. Bauer, S. W. Schneider, Armin Reller, Achim Wixforth und Matthias F. Schneider
|
Christoph Westerhausen
|
2011 |
Stephan Niland, Christoph Westerhausen, Stefan W. Schneider, Beate Eckes, Matthias F. Schneider und Johannes A. Eble
|
Alexander T. Bauer, Elwira A. Strozyk, Christian Gorzelanny, Christoph Westerhausen, Anna Desch, Matthias F. Schneider und Stefan W. Schneider
|
Lebenslauf
- since 2019: Research group leader "Biophysics Group", Medizinsche Fakultät, Lehrstuhl für Physiologie, University of Augsburg
- 2018: Research stay at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm
- 2014 - 2019: Research group leader, Institute of Physics, Experimentalphysik 1, University of Augsburg
- 2012 – 2015: Project manager at Wölfel Beratende Ingenieure, Würzburg
- 2012: Dissertation „On the role of soft interfaces for the understanding of blood clotting”
- 2011: Research period at Boston University
- 2009 – 2012: University of Augsburg & University Hospital Mannheim