Medical and commercial needs (WP1) have been identified. Requirements and high-level design have been cyclically revisited and updated considering unforeseen risks. The first version of the prototype (WP2 &WP4) was delivered in November 2018. The probe has been designed to be used through the working channel of a colonoscope, so it can be sold separately as an additional advanced component. Further improvements of the probe have been integrated and, in parallel, a new (confidential) technology that provides enhanced wide-field imaging has been developed and successfully demonstrated within the project. Generation of new open knowledge has been fully achieved thanks to database management and algorithm implementation (WP3). Various databases have been collected, organized and annotated in the scope of this work package, three of them made publicly available. A Wide-field Polyp Segmentation algorithm approach, which automatically detects lesions on colonoscopy videos, has been proposed and delivered. Optical biopsy capabilities have been achieved combining various algorithms developments. Advanced strategies based on deep learning able to deal with few samples (a common problem in machine learning), named few-shot learning, have been proposed. Apart from the OCT and MPM classification algorithms and innovative solution that virtually stains MPM images into H&E images has been generated and patent application filled. This innovation aims at facilitating the adoption of advanced imaging techniques by clinicians and ease the learning curve, as it is able to translate unknown images to a known knowledge space by clinicians, as it is the gold-standard H&E.
Fully validation with animal models (WP5) has been achieved through laboratory tests, validation trials, safety tests, etc. for the different prototype hardware components and CAD software algorithms. A database of OCT images using a commercial device has been generated with murine samples. Same specimens have also been used for the development of Colorectal Cancer Molecular Biomarkers based on microRNA analysis. Part of the specimens were healthy animals were hyperplasia has been induced with a model developed and validated in this work package.
Various validation actions and generation of new knowledge have been achieved with human samples (WP6). Colonoscopy videos recorded have been annotated by project clinicians, generating as a result an openly available database. Additionally, another openly published database of multi-photon microscopy (MPM) images have been acquired previous selection of samples. Clinical validation of wide-field polyp segmentation algorithm and optical biopsy algorithms have been achieved.
Ethical implications (WP7) of animal and human models’ samples acquisition and validation have been closely monitored during the whole project, data management plan defined, and ethical committee approvals obtained.
With respect to exploitation and dissemination (WP8), project achievements, publications, events, results have been shared through the project website and twitter on regular basis. A confidential business plan has been elaborated for an endoscope integrating the Photonics and Optical imaging technologies with the CAD Software for colon lesion diagnosis support. Various business models are considered upon commercialization and detailed exploitation plans are defined. Action plans for hardware components and plans to use for software components have been fully defined.
As a result of all this work, different individual results have been made publicly available and presented in a catalogue.
