Project description
Soft microrobots penetrate solid tumours for local therapeutics administration
Microrobots offer exciting potential for biomedical applications, including localised administration and delivery of drugs and other therapeutics. The ERC-funded CELLOIDS project developed the first ultrasoft microrobots and showed they were able to deform with magnetic actuation and move through gaps narrower than their original sizes. The follow-up ERC-funded SOFTINVADERS project will test their ability to penetrate a solid tumour. This will involve enhancing their capabilities and magnetic actuation, developing realistic in vitro tumour models for testing, and collaborating with a clinical partner to optimise their design and develop an innovation strategy. Success will pave the way to non-invasive administration of anticancer therapies directly inside tumours.
Objective
SOFTINVADERS aims at advancing the technology readiness of the microrobots prototypes developed in the ERC-funded project CELLOIDS, paving the way to their future clinical translation. In CELLOIDS, we have developed the first ultra-soft microrobots and observed that they can move through gaps narrower than their size under magnetic actuation. The microrobots have a cell-like body consisting of a Giant Unilamellar Vesicle – an aqueous liquid interior enclosed by a nanometres-thin membrane made of a phospholipid bilayer. This allows them to deform substantially and even form thin protrusions, squeezing through narrow gaps and between obstacles. Such ultra-soft microrobots have the potential to traverse body tissues, mimicking the interstitial migration of leukocytes. SOFTINVADERS will challenge our microrobots with the daunting task of penetrating a solid tumour. This could open new opportunities for administering anti-cancer therapeutics in situ. The translation from research towards innovation will be achieved by addressing three main objectives: (i) enhancing the capabilities and magnetic actuation of our microrobots to make them suited to tumour infiltration; (ii) developing realistic in-vitro tumour models for the validation of microrobots; (iii) establishing a research collaboration with a clinical partner to guide the design of anti-cancer ultra-soft microrobots and define an innovation strategy. If successful, SOFTINVADERS will provide a preliminary validation of tumour infiltration by synthetic magnetic microrobots. This will represent the first innovation step towards the realisation of microrobots-enabled in-situ administration of anti-cancer therapies, potentially leading to improved therapeutic outcomes and better life quality for millions of patients worldwide.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
- engineering and technology medical engineering
- natural sciences biological sciences synthetic biology
- medical and health sciences medical biotechnology nanomedicine
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electronic engineering robotics soft robotics
- engineering and technology other engineering and technologies microtechnology
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC-POC - HORIZON ERC Proof of Concept Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2024-POC
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
56127 PISA
Italy
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.