Bladder cancer is among the most expensive diseases in oncology in terms of treatment costs; each procedure requires days of hospitalisation and recurrence rates are high. Current unmet clinical needs can be addressed by optical methods due to the combination of non-invasive and real-time capture of unprecedented biomedical information. The MIB objective is to provide robust, easy-to-use, cost-effective optical methods with superior sensitivity and specificity to enable a step-change in point-of-care diagnostics of bladder cancer. The concept relies on combining optical methods (optical coherence tomography, multi-spectral opto-acoustic tomography, shifted excitation Raman difference spectroscopy, and multiphoton microscopy) providing structural, biochemical and functional information. The hypothesis is that such combination enables in situ diagnosis of bladder cancer with superior sensitivity and specificity due to unprecedented combined anatomic, biochemical and molecular tissue information. The step-change is that this hybrid concept is provided endoscopically for in vivo clinical use. The project relies on development of new light sources, high-speed imaging systems, unique imaging fibre bundles, and endoscopes, combined and applied clinically. The consortium comprises world-leading academic organisations in a strong partnership with innovative SMEs and clinical end-users. Through commercialization of this novel imaging platform, MIB is expected to reinforce leading market positions in medical devices and healthcare for the SMEs in areas where European industry is already strong. The impact is that improved diagnostic procedures facilitate earlier onset of effective treatment, thus recurrence and follow-up procedures would be reduced by 10%, i.e., reducing costs. Using MIB technology, healthcare cost savings in the order of 360M€ are expected for the whole EU. Equally important, prognosis and patient quality of life would improve drastically.

For the EU economy to grow sustainably it needs to re-industrialise, leveraging innovation and digital intelligence. Blockchain Innovation Spaces (Block.IS) envisions to build an open and collaborative cross-border, cross-sectoral innovation ecosystem that fosters the use of this cutting-edge technology in three vital sectors for the European economy: agrifood, logistics and finance. Block.IS will bring together (connect) actors (with an emphasis on SMEs and clusters) from these three heavily interconnected sectors, with SMEs/ innovators, to catalyse their cooperation towards innovation-driven and mutual growth (boost). The catalysation is aimed at networking the members of the ecosystem, raising understanding of the benefits of blockchain technology and stimulating the creation of new blockchain-based solutions - Cluster Missions and Clusters-Innovators Assembly. Block.IS will support innovators (SMEs) all the way from ideation to commercialisation offering them tailored business and technical support as well as direct funding, through a novel funnel approach - Innovate > Experiment > Commercialise acceleration programme. As such, the project will directly foster and strengthen competitiveness of digital SMEs (that will develop the solutions) and of the clusters and SMEs of the three verticals which will use them to offer added value to their customers. The Block.IS consortium is a fusion between: Tech founders and SMEs community (F6S), sector-oriented clusters and sectoral associations (VOICT, FEDACOVA, IT-Log, DSME, FTS), international innovation and Tech-transfer specialists (INO, IDI, CIVITTA, SYN) and Blockchain tech experts (INTRA, TNO); with an outreach of >1,017,000 SME. Block.IS invests 81% of the EC budget in SMEs and 51% through Open Calls (€2,800,000)

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most common cause of cancer death in Europe, yet survival rates rise dramatically when caught early. A contributing factor is that current colonoscopy, i.e., white light video or optical narrow band imaging, is inadequate for in-vivo detection and characterisation of the various types of (pre-)cancerous lesions found in the colon. Point-of-care, real-time polyp diagnosis and image guided intervention has the potential to save huge healthcare costs by enabling early onset of treatment; thus reduced recurrence rate, by improving interval screening, and by reducing pathology costs incurred during colonoscopy. A complete, reliable optical diagnosis is sensitive to morphological and biochemical changes. Unfortunately, no single optical method provides both. PROSCOPE provides unique combination of label-free, non-ionizing, proven optical imaging modalities that provides higher sensitivity and specificity compared to current colonoscopy thus enabling a step-change in point-of-care management of CRC. PROSCOPE develops and integrates recent advances in optical imaging and optical probe technology into one platform. The concept is validated in clinical settings using existing endoscopes providing minimally invasive optical imaging that fits into current clinical procedures. A leading medical device manufacturer and clinicians are involved at every stage of the development and validation. PROSCOPE is driven by unmet clinical needs in the field of gastroenterological diagnosis with a clear business case: Combination of optical imaging techniques offers the potential to vastly improve early diagnosis of CRC achieving specificity and sensitivity above 90%, reducing the number of excisional biopsies by 50%, and improving interval screening planning, thereby reducing healthcare costs drastically and benefitting patients. The consortium includes five leading academics, including hospital clinics, and four SMEs covering the entire value chain.

The European Training Network PHAST (Photonics for Healthcare: multiscAle cancer diagnosiS and Therapy) provides excellent, highly-skilled education and training in the vibrant field of Biophotonics for 15 Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) in a strong multidisciplinary PhD programme. PHAST addresses some relevant “unmet needs” of the medical community in prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer – one of the leading causes of death worldwide – to significantly improve the quality of life for European society. The main scientific goal of PHAST is to develop multiscale advanced photonic technologies for the diagnosis of cancer in vitro and in vivo and the monitoring of therapy for personalized medicine, through its four specific objectives: 1. In-vitro diagnosis as point-of-care approach through optical spectroscopy combined with innovative sampling techniques. 2. Tissue diagnostics and functional monitoring by optical fibre-based biopsy and diffuse optical spectroscopy. 3. Microscale cancer monitoring by multimodal optical imaging of tumour borders during surgery. 4. Macroscale therapy monitoring by diffuse optical spectroscopy, multifunctional optical fibre sensors, autofluorescence, and hyperspectral imaging. The multi-scale level approach employed by PHAST will allow early cancer detection from molecular disease markers in body-liquids up to live organs. In specific cases these techniques will be validated in the clinic thanks to close collaboration with medical institutions. The ESRs will be trained to all the technologies through hands-on laboratory platforms, thematic workshops and courses to build solid careers as biophotonics professionals in both academic and non-academic sectors. This will be possible thanks to the multidisciplinary environment created by the PHAST consortium, composed of research institutions, 2 hospitals and 8 industries, among them specialized small companies as well as global players in the field such as Horiba, Philips and Zeiss.