The SENSEI project will develop a novel generic sensing methodology, integrating live sensor cells into a specially designed miniaturised hardware platform. The design and construction of such bio-hybrid sensors will combine state of the art synthetic biology with innovative integrated photonic circuits (IPCs), an objective that is unachievable with today’s technologies. The proposed methodology will...
Project Energy4Oil aims to deliver a low-cost hybrid nanogenerator able to operate in harsh conditions (pressure up to 12000 psi and working temperatures up to 120ºC) for the Oil & Gas industry. This new disruptive market solution, based on nanotechnology and on the most recent developments in the field of energy harvesting, will increase the...
The recent technological breakthrough in cryo electron tomography (cryoET) opens to imaging, at close to atomic resolution, of macromolecular complexes in their native cellular context. This technique is seminal for a new field in Life Sciences referred to as cellular structural biology which is starting to shed light on how fine conformational states of protein...
The aim of this project is to develop a wearable sensing platform by integrating two emerging technologies: metamaterial sensors and piezoelectric polymers. Moreover, 3D printing techniques will be utilised to fabricate the platform for realizing versatile, cost-effective and personalised devices. The integration of electromagnetic metamaterials and piezoelectric smart materials onto one mechanically flexible platform has...
The research project Echobrain aims to innovate in transcranial ultrasound (US) imaging. Indeed, brain echography could be much more accessible than the current used techniques Xrays or Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) but remains challenging due to strong attenuation and aberration of the US beam when crossing the skull bone. The quality of transcranial echography can...
In Europe, the future climate predictions point towards a more frequent occurrence of severe, short and very local rain storms. In cities, with dense urbanisation and infrastructure (port, airport, highways, …), this shall lead to more frequent activities disruptions at street level. Insurers already report that weather-related natural threat and catastrophes are rising rapidly. It...
Throughout the world cryostats and dewars are used to transport and store liquid materials at very low temperatures. Those devices are often very large and can only be inspected during maintenance periods, when they are emptied. This project aims at developing a robot able to move freely inside the cold volume, perform inspections and transmit...
A universal detector for mass spectrometry and molecular science. Mass spectrometry is ubiquitous in science and technology, from medicine and pharmacy over security surveillance to research in chemistry and physics. It requires the preparation, filtering and detection of single molecular ions. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation (MALDI) and electrospray ionisation (ESI) are routinely used in the...
Light is a powerful tool to non-invasively probe scattering media for clinical applications. Time-domain (TD) technique relies on the injection of fast laser pulses and on the collection of the re-emitted photons though a single-photon detector. TD technique has 2 main advantages: i) disentangling scattering from absorption; ii) encoding the mean depth reached by the...
Neuroscience is a multidisciplinary and fast-growing market segment, primarily based on brain mapping investigations aimed to understand complex neuronal circuits and nervous operational pathways. It is well known that brain activity relies on interactions between large populations of neurons located in different brain regions. Understanding the relationships between these specific areas and disentangling the contributions...
Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is currently being used to establish if a patient diagnosed with cancer has developed metastasis in other organs in the body. This test is therefore used to decide the type of procedure to follow, usually based on chemo – and radio – therapies, but not for preventive screening. This decision is...
The purpose of this project is to explore the potential of new preparation processes of magneto optical (MO) materials for applications in guided optics. The project is based on unique know how to IPCMS: to the development of materials initiated by the Département de Chimie des Matériaux Inorganiques of the IPCMS and developed by the...
Chemical and structural imaging with nano resolution under ambient conditions are of utmost importance for advancing our understanding of biological processes at the sub-cellular level, which is needed for achieving a thorough understanding of severe diseases such as cancers, neurodegenerative or autoimmune disorders. These perspectives motived over the past decades a consistent body of work...
Recent statistics report that more than 3.7 million new cases of cancer occur in Europe yearly, and according to the WHO the disease accounts for approximately 20% of all deaths. Cancer places enormous economic and psychological strains on the population. High throughput drug screening of cancer cell cultures has dominated the research screening for novel,...
The main goal of the DentMRI project is to demonstrate a technology capable of simultaneous, high resolution imaging of soft and hard deep biological tissues, and which can be massively deployed in dental clinics within the next decade. Prior to the project start, we have been first to obtain high-resolution images of teeth (the hardest...
MERMAID (Multi-Emission Radioisotopes – Marine Animal Imaging Device) proposes a unique imaging approach that opens the door to unexplored research paths in various disciplines. MERMAID will be the first dedicated imaging device for radioisotope imaging of small aquatic animals, thus paving the way to innovations in sustainable aquaculture and expanding the use of zebrafish as...
Infrared (IR) or thermal imaging sensors, traditionally used in defence, are increasingly being introduced in civilian sectors with the rise of new commercial and high volume markets such as automotive, surveillance, thermography, medical diagnosis, environmental sensing and IR imaging in smartphones. The market size in 2018 is around 1M units for the civil market and...
In the era of precision medicine, cancer therapies are tailored to the specific genetic makeup of a tumour. A main challenge during treatment is the early detection of variations in tumour phenotype that might alter the expected outcome. Early and precise detection of cancer response to treatment is not only important for patient cure success...
Since polarimetry provides complex information that other techniques (imaging or spectroscopy) cannot give, the development of innovative polarisation sensitive detectors is crucial for many advanced detection systems. The polarisation state of the light is a probe of the molecular structure and surface texture of the materials involved in light emission and contains information on the...
Vitestro and Result laboratory are developing a device that will automate venous blood sampling. Automation of blood collection offers a great opportunity for improving patient care and reducing costs. A major challenge in development of the venipuncture device is prevention of unintended nerve and arterial puncture, which can be problematic because of anatomical variations. In...
