A brain stroke occurs when the flow of oxygen-rich blood to a portion of the brain is obstructed or when a blood vessel leaks or bursts. It is the second leading cause of death in Europe, and 60% of the survivors have different degrees of disability, with a socio-economic impact of the first magnitude for...
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...
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...
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...
We propose a compact imaging and particle-tracking device, named INSTANT, consisting of a complete detection and image processing system, from pixel sensors to data processing electronics. It provides very high time (10ps) and space (10μm) resolution per pixel. Embedded data processing for data compression and real-time reconstruction of the recorded events is also a key...
PHOTOQUANT aims at exploiting the potential of the emerging field of nano-photonics for developing a new generation of highly efficient and ultrafast single-photon quantum sensors. The project proposes two different approaches: the first will exploit the ability of nanometallic structures to concentrate light into subwavelength volumes, designing an interface layer between the light source and...
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...
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,...
Structural alongside functional smart materials play an important role in modern industry and technology. The behaviour of such materials is often governed by their structural properties. Knowledge on their specific grain formation and orientation is crucial for their development and use in prospective applications. Neutron diffraction plays a central role in the structural characterisation of...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
The enormous potential of silicon sensors in precise time measurement of ionizing particles is far from being exploited. At present, the best time resolutions in pixelated silicon is obtained by the proponents that have measured 100 and 130ps with low-noise ultra-fast SiGe HBT electronics in hybrid and monolithic implementations, respectively, without internal gain mechanism. Recently,...
