Descrizione del progetto
Biophotonics solutions for diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of disease
Cataract remains the first cause for blindness worldwide (20 million people according to WHO). Approximately 85% of all cataract is age-related, the cause of which is unknown. Cataract extraction and lens implant is the most commonly performed surgery. The early intervention and the growing population of older people are putting a considerable strain on the health care system worldwide due to expensive surgical interventions. It will expand in the coming decades. Cataract surgery is not without risks. Visual loss as a direct result of cataract surgery is not uncommon. There is an unmet need for diminution of cataract's surgery in the healthcare sector. This can be only achieved if cataract formation is detected early. Current methods of examination of the eye have serious limitations and only allow detection of late changes and obvious opacities.
The objective of the project is the integration in two pilots of new biophotonic modules to create and test in real application settings medical prototypes for the early diagnosis of cataract and for the non-invasive treatment of this disease. These existing modules are based on recent biophotonic findings in the field of tryptophan fluorescence TF and non-invasive photo- bleaching by femtosecond laser pulse. A pig's lens/UV irradiation model was validated by TF measurements on donor lenses. This background research provides evidence that cataract can be diagnosed at a very early stage.This project will provide two innovative medical instruments manufactured in Europe with the support of European SMEs, Edinburgh Biosciences -initiator of this project and co-coordinator, Prontor-producer of the prototypes, DELTA -filter's provider, Heriot-Watt University and end- user assessors- Hospitals St.Eriks in Sweden and Glostrup in Denmark.The project is based on previous European collaborations in FP6, FP7 and EUROSTARS projects.
Argomento(i)
Invito a presentare proposte
CIP-ICT-PSP-2013-7
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Meccanismo di finanziamento
PB - Pilot Type BCoordinatore
EH14 4AS Edinburgh
Regno Unito