
The Horizon 2020 STARSTEM project combines nanotechnology, photoacoustic imaging and regenerative medicine. The project is developing gold nano-star particles, which are embedded in stem cells used for regenerative medicine treatments. The nano-stars are used as effective contrast agent for MSOT imaging, making the photo-acousting imaging more sensitive, and allowing to detect very small quantities at great depth under the skin. The project will use gold-enhanced contrast agents to monitor and better understand how stem cell therapies for arthritis actually work. iThera and Pintail are both partners in STARSTEM.
Driven by leading dermatologists and market-leading SMEs in optoacoustic and ultrasound technology, INNODERM will design and prototype a handheld, portable, scalable, label-free high-resolution optoacoustic device (RSOM) for point-of-care dermatology applications. RSOM uses the same photoacoustic effect as MSOT but at different resolution and depth regimes. INNODERM brings together key photonic & ultrasound technologies and will validate the technical and economic viability of RSOM in dermatology suites for fast diagnosis and skin disease monitoring. RSOM can go beyond the abilities of current optical or optoacoustic devices and offers a paradigm shift in dermatology imaging, substantiating successful business cases. iThera and RFO are both partners in InnoDerm.


The Horizon 2020 iNanoBIT project aims to apply nanotechnologies for imaging porcine pancreatic islet cellular transplants and induced pluripotent stem cell-derived beta-cells and subsequent regenerative processes in vivo in a porcine model. The project will provide the currently missing toolbox for preclinical/clinical testing for a safe translation of regenerative medicinal cellular and tissue products, currently under preclinical and clinical trials, which is vital for the competitiveness of the European healthcare sector in this fast-growing area. iThera are partners in iNanoBIT.
PAMMOTH’s objective is to develop, validate and begin exploitation of a dedicated breast imaging device for a significant impact in breast cancer diagnosis. The device combines non-invasive 3D photoacoustic imaging and ultrasound imaging to provide near real-time, full-breast, multimodal images. From the ultrasound mode, the radiologist will visualize anatomical features and extent of tumours, and from multiwavelength photoacoustics, she will see tumour vascularity. Quantitative spectroscopic photoacoustic images will be extracted off-line, providing information relating to tumour physiology and function. IMA are partners in PAMMOTH.


ESOTRAC, a 4-year European Commission Horizon 2020 research program bringing together engineers and physicians, aims to significantly improve the detection of early-stage oesophagal cancer. The interdisciplinary, 5-country research team will develop an innovative endoscope that combines sensing of pathophysiological tissue signatures resolved by multi-spectral optoacoustic (photoacoustic) tomography (MSOT) with morphological disease signatures provided by optical coherence tomography (OCT).
The resulting system will operate in label-free mode and, due to its tomographic ability, visualize sub-surface tissue features, providing superior information of the oesophagal wall compared to conventional video endoscopes. This comprehensive sub-surface information is expected to detect early-stage EC and enable disease staging, neither of which can be done reliably today. The novel endoscope can be further useful in reducing the number of unnecessary biopsies by providing more accurate guidance to suspicious areas over white-light endoscopy. RAYFOS are partners in ESOTRAC.
The NEW DEAL project aims to develop a highly selective and local therapy with an improved efficacy and safety profile for IBD patients. This treatment might be an alternative to the existing therapies.
The use of nanotherapy based on siRNA, targeting specifically the molecular JAK1/JAK3, is a new approach to treat inflammatory bowel diseases. This innovative medicine will deliver a targeted and local therapy directly to the inflamed gut, through the gastrointestinal tract.


WINTHER, a European Commission Horizon 2020 research program under grant agreement No 871763, builds on the success of the INNODERM Project. While INNODERM focused on diagnostic dermatology, it has become apparent that RSOM can also assess progression and therapy not only in the skin but in cardiovascular diseases and diabetes too. To achieve this, RSOM should be able to assess endothelial function, an ability that is not yet possible. WINTHER will build next-generation fast RSOM (F-RSOM), operating at up to two orders of magnitude faster than state-of-the-art RSOM, enabling it to assess endothelial function. Using the skin as a window for disease assessment and aided by a modern computation framework, based on deterministic and artificial intelligence algorithms, F-RSOM aims to improve the clinical accuracy of RSOM and shift the paradigm in therapeutic monitoring of cardio-metabolic diseases and inflammatory skin conditions.
EUPHORIA team members RAYFOS and iThera Medical are partners in WINTHER.
RSENSE is a five-year research and innovation program funded by the EU under Horizon 2020 under grant agreement 862811. It brings together engineers and physicians from four European countries aiming for a new and innovative, disruptive technology of spectral portable optoacoustics (sPROPT). This sensor will be accessible, inexpensive, portable and non-invasive. On the one hand, sPROPT will enable frequent monitoring for early signs of diseases, such as prevalent cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. sPROPT will revolutionize environmental sensing by allowing sensitive, disseminated, in-vehicle measurements and monitoring for on-board diagnosis. To achieve these ambitious goals, the RSENSE consortium uses methods ranging from artificial intelligence and data analytics to advanced optoacoustic technology.


OPTOMICS, funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 research program under grant agreement No 101017802, aims to research methodology that can deliver a paradigm shift in type-2 diabetes healthcare, by integrating molecular phenotyping, a new generation of phenotypic measurements in humans, representative of diabetes onset and progression, allowed by novel portable and non-invasive optoacoustic technology, and cutting-edge computational approaches leveraging progress in Artificial Intelligence.
EUPHORIA team member RAYFOS Limited is a partner in OPTOMICS. iThera Medical is the provider of the system used in OPTOMICS.