Periodic Reporting for period 1 - PhotonMed (Pilot Line for Photonics-Based Medical Devices)
Reporting period: 2024-09-01 to 2025-08-31
PhotonMed project advances photonics technologies that are applicable to disruptive medical device solutions. The application relevance of the PhotonMed research and its quality are validated in pilot-cases led by the end-user companies. Based on the pilot-cases, industrial supply chains are defined for the concepts of the end-user companies reducing substantially the time-to-market. Technologies developed in PhotonMed will be appended also to the pilot line offering making them available to all companies outside PhotonMed. The project aims at 4 high level objectives: 1) Advance photonics technologies on components, advanced integration and production equipment. 2) Demonstrate the significance of the research in 16 pilot-cases led by the end-user companies. 3) Accelerate the uptake of the advanced technologies using pilot line operational model and ecosystem. 4) New business for all the stakeholders: RTOs, industrial suppliers, end-users and external companies.
PhotonMed is a pilot line initiative dedicated to the development of photonics-based medical devices. During its first year, the project established specifications for 16 pilot cases, covering applications in in-vitro diagnostics, in-vivo diagnostics, and personalized monitoring. These specifications laid the groundwork for targeted technological development across the pilot line. The project initiated fabrication of key photonic components, including integrated optics, laser sources, and sensor technologies, tailored to the functional requirements of the pilot cases. In parallel, significant progress was made in integration technologies, with the development of opto-fluidic systems, fiber-optic interfaces, and miniaturized photonic modules. These integration efforts support the realization of compact, scalable, and clinically relevant device architectures.
PhotonMed project has achieved substantial progress in advancing photonic technologies for medical applications. In silicon photonics, the project developed CMOS-compatible plasmonic waveguides with low propagation losses and high fabrication yields, enabling scalable biosensing. SOI and SiN waveguides were optimized for integration with biosensors, ultrasound transducers and external cavity lasers, supporting applications in wearable and implantable devices. Laser development covered a broad spectral range, with hybrid InP/Si and GaSb/SiN/SOI lasers advancing toward tunable and mid-infrared sources, while quantum cascade lasers are being miniaturized for integration into portable diagnostic tools. Sensor innovations included ultra-compact NIR spectrometers and integrated photonic ultrasound transducers, both tailored for non-invasive and intravascular diagnostics. Fiber optic integration focused on creating miniature, sterilizable assemblies for endoscopic and wearable applications, with automated alignment and packaging techniques ensuring precision and biocompatibility. Finally, opto-fluidic platforms combined microfluidics with photonic sensors to enable compact, automated sample analysis. This included the development of microfluidic cartridges, elastic opto-fluidic systems with microneedles, gas-phase sensing modules, and scalable surface functionalization processes. Collectively, these advancements position PhotonMed to deliver manufacturable, high-performance photonic solutions for next-generation medical diagnostics and monitoring.