Biological processes at the interface of cell and developmental biology are highly dynamic and take place on several spatial and temporal scales. Methods allowing to visualise and quantify these processes across scales are becoming indispensable for modern biological and biomedical research and applications. Fluorescent microscopy has emerged as a powerful technique to acquire spatial and...
This project aims to develop a novel sensor concept for near-infrared (NIR) imaging and gamma-ray (x-ray) detection that leads to significant increase in the device performance in terms of sensitivity, accuracy and cost efficiency with respect to current technologies. As a starting point we have recently confirmed superior characteristics in UV radiation detection using specific...
THz fingerprints of astronomical objects are of a great value as they offer insights into history of the Universe, formation and evolution of galaxies and their central supermassive black holes, and other fundamental questions raised by astrophysics. Detection and decoding of these ultra-weak signals currently rely on THz bolometers placed outside Earth atmosphere (e.g. Herschel...
Fetal surgeries are among the most complex surgical interventions because entail operating in location with difficult access, through an endoscopic instrument that reduces vision and manoeuvrability, there is usually a lack of information on what to expect inside the patient, time sensitivity and extreme fragility of the patient. Recent advances in medical imaging techniques, artificial...
Ultra-high radiation levels (particle fluence up to 1018 part./cm2 and ionising dose up to 100 MGy), are expected in the next generation of High Energy Physics (HEP) colliders currently under study at CERN. State of the art solid-state devices for radiation and particle measurement (mainly passive devices or silicon-based active sensors) are not capable of...
Radio-frequency identification (RFID) sensors are one of the fundamental components of Internet of Things that aims at connecting every physical object to the cloud database for exchange of information and activities. Consequently, the development of low-cost, efficient, printable RFID sensors is a fundamental research domain for this future high-technology era. RFID is a powerful wireless...
The field of optogenetics is a relatively young discipline in the research field of biology investigating possibilities to remotely control genetically modified cells with visible light. This is achieved by the reversible control of isolated signalling components. Optogenetic proteins have the property to change their conformation and affinity upon illumination with light of a specific...
In the year 2000, the HEP community decided to adopt the recent concept of computing grid for the computing of the experiments at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN (LHC). It took a decade of intense work to turn the Grid vision to reality. It was also a successful decision, as the worldwide LHC computing...
The high speed cameras make it possible to acquire a fast single event at a fast frame rate and to observe it at a reduced frame rate, the so called “slow motion”. They find many applications in motion analysis, explosives, ballistic, bio-mechanics research, crash test, manufacturing, production line monitoring, deformation, droplet formation, fluid dynamics, particle,...
Although most people associate x-rays with medical applications or security scans, their use is widespread, with many industrial sectors and scientific disciplines dependent on them. For over a century, x-rays have been primarily used in a binary fashion, recording if they are absorbed by matter or not, termed attenuation contrast. However, x-rays are waves, exhibiting...
We envision future information society enabled by superconducting logic working in core networks to switch and rout data streams in optical communications network. Until now, the efficient utilisation of superconducting rapid single flux quantum (RSFQ)-logic has been impeded by the difficulty in making the electrical interconnection from the RSFQ-chip to the external world because the...
Integrated image sensors revolutionised the world of visible imaging and receive interest in many other fields. Monolithic CMOS pixel sensors have already been produced to cover a few square meters in some particle physics experiments. The ideal image sensor or camera would detect ionizing particles with an almost noise-free, large amplitude signal, tens of ps...
Sustained ventricular tachycardia (VT) is a cardiac arrhythmia that originates whenever there is tissue substrate constituting a re-entrant circuit, i.e., the presence of viable myocytes (‘channels’) embedded in myocardial scar, such as post-acute myocardial infarction (AMI) scar. AMI is one of the most prevalent human diseases, and sustained VT is a major cause for sudden...
When cutting away sick tissue, surgeons meantime must correctly identify vital anatomical structures such as nerves, lymphatic tissue and blood vessels to prevent accidental damage to these structures. Identifying these to prevent damage remains enormously challenging, especially due to natural differences between individual human bodies. High tech imaging techniques are truly a break through aid...
This project develops a new hardware module that drastically improves the temporal resolution of current patch-clamp from the microsecond domain to the picosecond domain. The hardware module can be attached to a commercially available AFM (atomic force microscopy) platform, as well as a commercially available microwave generator. The new module has both scientific impact to...
The Low Temperature Communication Link is a component of a more ambitious programme “Smart Diagnostics of Superconducting Magnets”. The initial idea of “Smart Diagnostics” is included in the FuSuMaTech Initiative. It comes from considering a superconducting magnet as an IoT (Internet of Things) device. Even if this is presented as targeting superconducting magnets the solution...
The Internet of Things (IoT) is defined as a network of nodes able to monitor physical and chemical magnitudes and provide relevant information concerning safety of individuals and goods. This involves continuous monitoring to assess that a safety-relevant magnitude has not reached an alarming threshold value. Stable and reliable power sources are key factors to...
Silicon-based photonic biosensors integrated into a semiconductor chip technology can lead to major advances in point-of-care applications, food diagnostics, and environmental monitoring through the rapid and precise analysis of various substances. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in sensors based on photonic integrated circuits (PIC) because they give rise to cost effective,...
MiniRhizotron (MR) imaging systems are key instruments to study the hidden half of plants and ecosystems, i.e. roots, mycorrhiza and their interactions with pathogens, fauna etc. in the rhizosphere. MR systems allow taking repeated images of roots etc. growing in soil (at specific depths) at the interface with transparent MR tubes; time between imaging must...
The VISIR technology will create a new class of solid-state imagers by monolithically integrating an innovative double diode structure, based on a GaAs/Ge heterostructure, with a CMOS readout/imaging circuit. This combination will be capable of imaging over the spectral range from 400 to 1600 nm, covering the visible (VIS) and most of the short wavelengths...
