The transverse position of the charged particle beam circulating in an accelerator is one of the most basic yet crucial observables. Efficient and safe operation of every accelerator, as well as performance reach of many physic experiments, relies heavily on accurate beam position measurements. Such measurements are typically performed with Beam Position Monitors (BPM) –...
The XCOL project provides a breakthrough in X-ray digital imaging by making high resolution, colour X-ray imaging available at an affordable cost. We use innovative design techniques, optimised for X-ray detection, to boost the performance of CMOS image sensors so that they can deliver the longsought step-change in the image quality of large area flat...
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease caused by parasitic protozoans belonging to the Plasmodium species (spp.). It is one of the deadliest diseases claiming half a million deaths annually and its elimination is one of the aims declared on the UN Millennium Development Goals. The worldwide reduction of malaria prevalence raises the need for highly...
Sensors have become key elements of today’s society. We live surrounded by sensors and the society evolves towards generalised and personalised sensorization, which allows a greater availability of data to interact with. However, sensors technology is limited in the field of biosensing, where there are no solutions that include universal and versatile label-free detection systems....
The aim of the project is to develop a system capable of enabling true terahertz hyperspectral imaging at unprecedented rates. The best performing terahertz spectral imagers nowadays are based on raster scanning, i.e. performing a single pixel spectral analysis and moving the sample, which makes the process time-consuming and, hence, not suitable for most industrial...
Any sensitive detection instrument seeks to isolate a usually very rare signal out of -an often overwhelming amount of- undesired, disturbing background events. Hence, breakthroughs in an instruments’ sensitivity are typically associated with more efficient detection of the former and/or more effective suppression of the latter. For sensitive optical devices this implies that the detection...
In this project the innovative photonics-based technologies, emerging paradigms in machine learning, new concepts in computational modelling of light-tissue interaction and definitive pathology are merged together to explore the opportunity of using the fundamental properties of light, namely circular and/or elliptical polarisation and spin angular momentum of light, for advanced cell cultures diagnosis and tissue...
Metrology of laser beams with high power has a number of challenges related to beam sampling technique, sensitivity control for the measurement device and achievable dynamic range. Main Objectives: development of an inexpensive, compact device for measurement of laser beam profile (LBP) and beam pointing stability (BPS) measurement device for pulsed and continuous high power...
One of the major radiation modalities for treating cancer is hadron radiotherapy, which at present uses protons and carbon ions. This is mainly because hadrons have the unique feature of increasing energy deposition with penetration depth, with maximum energy deposition at the end of the range followed by a sharp decrease (Bragg peak). However, treatment...
Viral lasers represent a disruptive breakthrough in biological sensing with the potential to unlock new avenues of discovery in health research and the life sciences. The interdisciplinary technology bridges laser physics and synthetic biology to tackle biological sensing problems. The inventive use of laser phenomena gives the technology its unprecedented signal generation capabilities, but the...
Microtomography is an X-ray imaging technique based on the same principle as the medical scanner. By using synchrotron radiation instead of a conventional X-ray source, it can be used to capture volumetric scans at much higher resolution and quality. This technology is able to provide three dimensional (3D) images to visualise the internal structures of...
Disease biomarkers in blood are important diagnostic indicators and are currently analysed in specialised laboratories by expensive and time-consuming procedures (assay duration spanning several hours). These procedures are unsuitable for rapid detection of biomarkers in point of need settings, as a response to life threatening situations where early detection of blood biomarkers is vital, such...
Hydrocephalus is a relevant neurosurgical pathology, both in children and in the ageing population. It comprises a wide set of ailments associated with alterations of the cerebrospinal fluid hydrodynamics and the bio-mechanical properties of the nervous central system structures. In many cases, these pathologies are characterised by an enlargement of the lateral ventricles of the...
This project aims at developing innovative biocompatible sensors able to monitor the status of tissue implants in vivo, at human scale. These sensors are aimed at reporting on the degradation of the scaffold and on the overall transplanted cells conditions. They represent a completely new class of MRI contrast agents that display remarkable relaxation effects...
Deep learning and smart sensors are both gaining wide interest in academia and commercially, but they both still lack research and a commercial breakthrough. DEBARE project researches novel gesture recognition using distributed multimodal deep learning and smart sensors. DEBARE develops a groundbreaking intelligent sensing platform for intuitive interaction with physical objects. Key objectives are: Developing...
Assembly of heterogeneous full-custom integrated circuits in high-reliability components allows to create innovative functions in miniature systems, especially in the field of detection and imaging. Whatever the field of application (space science, synchrotron imaging spectrometers applied to X-ray fluorescence, medical imaging, additive manufacturing monitoring, …), the density of electronics is growing up and embedded systems...
A critical requirement for understanding and diagnosing severe pathologies, such as cancers, neurodegenerative or cardiovascular diseases, consists in achieving an exact understanding of fundamental structures and processes in cells and tissues at optical resolutions beyond the diffraction barrier. Fluorescence based techniques for Super-Resolution Microscopy (SRM) have generated huge impact in many fields of science but...
One-hundred-and-fifteen years after the first device was developed by Sir William Crookes, scintillator technologies remain an integral part of particle detectors in fundamental particle, nuclear, medical and applied physics applications worldwide. Primarily, these are research systems and are bespoke, one off detectors designed for high-performance and permanent installation within controlled and routinely monitored environments. Commercial...
Head and neck cancers represent the 6th most common type of cancer in Europe with around 150,000 new patients per year. Despite its severity and increasing prevalence, there is little awareness of this pathology. 60% of patients with advanced disease at diagnosis die within 5 years. The most common cancer in the head and neck...
One out of seven couples in Europe suffer from subfertility problems. Assisted reproduction including in vitro fertilization (IVF) has overcome many of the underlying infertility causes. IVF involves crossing sperm with isolated eggs to generate an embryo in vitro. Typically, 5-10 embryos are produced per cycle, and 1 or 2 will be then transferred to...
