Objective
Breast cancer remains the most common cancer and leading cause of cancer-related death in women in the EU. Although mammography is the gold standard for screening, it suffers from key limitations: it is ionizing, painful, and shows reduced sensitivity for dense breasts—a group already at higher risk. As a result, there is a critical need for a non-invasive, non-ionizing, and more effective imaging method to improve screening coverage and diagnostic accuracy.
Ultrasound is a promising alternative: real-time, portable, and non-ionizing. However, conventional ultrasound remains limited due to its low specificity and high user dependency. Quantitative ultrasound (QUS) has emerged as a potential solution by extracting physical tissue parameters like elasticity, attenuation, or speed-of-sound (SoS), yet current techniques lack resolution and robustness for clinical use in breast imaging.
The DIONISOS project proposes to address this gap by exploiting Ultrasound Matrix Imaging (UMI)—a novel framework developed in the ERC Consolidator project REMINISCENCE. UMI first consists in recording the reflection matrix of the medium. It then leverages wave physics and computational optimization to generate high-resolution, quantitative maps of SoS, attenuation, and fiber structure. These biomarkers provide crucial diagnostic information: SoS correlates with tissue density and malignancy, while attenuation and fiber mapping enhance the ability to discriminate between benign and malignant lesions.
Preliminary in vitro and in vivo results demonstrate UMI’s unprecedented resolution and contrast compared to current methods. DIONISOS aims to a clinical validation of this approach as a non-invasive, quantitative, and operator-independent breast cancer screening tool using standard ultrasound sequence. If successful, it could replace mammography for many use cases, reduce patient discomfort, and improve early cancer detection—particularly for women with dense breasts.
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.
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.
- engineering and technology materials engineering fibers
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology breast cancer
- natural sciences physical sciences acoustics ultrasound
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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)
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.
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-2025-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.
75794 PARIS
France
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.