This is a higher education student and staff mobility project, please consult the website of the organisation to obtain additional details.

This is a project for higher education student and staff mobility between Programme Countries and Partner Countries. Please consult the website of the organisation to obtain additional details.

Breast cancer (BC) accounts for 28 % of the total cancer cases in the European Union (EU) and is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality of European women. The stratification of individual BC sub-types for corresponding therapy modalities is poor. Therapy outcomes in several BC sub-types are unsatisfactory. Its diagnosis is marred by high proportion of false positives and the economic burden to healthcare systems is very high. To overcome this NANOCARGO will develop a simultaneous diagnosis and therapy (theranostics) approach based on a multimodal nanocomposite termed as nanocargos. The battle against cancer is much more effectively fought if it is aided by early detection and, potentially concurrent, efficient treatment. NANOCARGO, introduces a new paradigm that theranostics can be made far more effective if a multimodal action can be integrated by adding a plasmonic shell to a magnetic nanoparticle core. The plasmonic shell can be functionalized with the chemotherapeutic drugs and aptamars. Magnetic@gold and magnetic@silver type core/shell nanocargos can be conjugated with anticancer aptamer. These nanocargos can be stimulated by simultaneous application of magnetic hyperthermia and photonic therapy. Cellular delivery can benefit from photoporation. Anticancer therapy can thus be made much more effective through the multimodal actions of these nanocargos exposed to endo-luminal, minimally invasive optical stimulation and extra-corporeal magnetic resonance imaging based excitation. Such a combined will maximise the delivery of these nanocargos into tumor cells. The magnetic core is advantageous for a controlled delivery of aptamer through an externally applied magnetic field. Gold and silver shell will support aptamer attachment. X-ray computed Tomography (CT) imaging contrast of absorbing tumors will be better due to higher X-ray absorption of gold and silver.

Although visual perception of humans is limited to a fraction of wavelengths spanning the electromagnetic spectrum, technological advances enable us to see in other spectral regions by providing suitable sources and detectors. Of particular interest for many applications is the ability to probe objects in the terahertz (THz) range, which bridges the microwave and infrared domains. THz radiation offers unique opportunities for imaging or sensing due to its high transmission by optically-opaque materials like paper, textiles, ceramics or plastics, while for gas sensing it enables identification of structurally-complex molecules. Unfortunately, access to this region is difficult due to limitations of conventional electronics and photonics, and often involves cryogenic operation. Even the most mature systems operating at room temperature, despite years of advances, still struggle to provide chip-scale miniaturization of the source and detector, and moving-parts-free acquisition of a broadband THz spectrum. Here, to fill this niche and address the critical demand for broadband, chip-based THz spectroscopy without any moving parts, we propose to leverage mid-infrared (3-5 um) semiconductor laser frequency combs based on interband cascade lasers (ICL). We postulate that nonlinear frequency conversion due to the recently discovered second order susceptibility of the ICL medium can be used to obtain microwatt to sub-milliwatt level of THz power at a battery-compatible bias. A complementary mid-infrared photomixer technology envisioned in this proposal will additionally enable coherent detection of broadband THz comb radiation at room temperature. Although the project is inherently risky due to uncertainties in the ultrafast dynamics of semiconductor structures, losses in the terahertz range, and fabrication complexity, it is timely and strongly demanded by the community. It will unlock new opportunities across many disciplines ranging from chemistry to 6G telecommunications.