Objective
Every year, an estimated 2 million EU emergency ambulance transports for chest pain reach hospital without a single troponin measurement — the biomarker needed to confirm or rule out myocardial infarction (heart attack). After discharge, a substantial proportion of patients who develop post-infarction heart failure are rehospitalised within 30 days, with no tool to monitor troponin at home. This gap persists because troponin circulates at concentrations orders of magnitude lower than glucose, the required biofluids cannot be accessed without invasive sampling, and no minimally invasive wearable for troponin has yet been clinically validated for pre-hospital or home use.
FIRST-SIGN addresses these barriers using advances from the ERC Starting Grant 2ND-CHANCE (Grant No. 101043119). The parent grant developed aptamer-based troponin detection across the clinically relevant range and hollow microneedle arrays for minimally invasive interstitial fluid (ISF) extraction through the skin. FIRST-SIGN integrates these into a wearable patch that samples ISF via microneedles, measures cardiac troponin I (cTnI) with an aptamer-functionalised electrode, and is designed to return results to a smartphone within 10–20 minutes without a blood draw or trained operator.
During ambulance transport, the patch could provide clinicians with an early signal of cardiac injury; after discharge, it aims to let patients detect silent re-infarction at home before it becomes an emergency. Because the quantitative relationship between ISF and blood troponin remains poorly characterised, establishing this correlation is a central objective. Over 18 months, FIRST-SIGN will (1) adapt the biosensor for wearable operation, (2) benchmark ISF-derived troponin against venous blood in cardiac patients across cohorts, (3) build and usability-test an integrated prototype, and (4) define the regulatory and commercialisation pathway. Success will position the device for CE marking and subsequent commercialisation in pre-hospital triage and post-discharge home cardiac monitoring.
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 electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electronic engineering sensors biosensors
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine cardiology cardiovascular diseases
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering information engineering telecommunications mobile phones
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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-2026-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.
34450 Istanbul
Türkiye
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.