Case studies

Imaging and software experts developed a new 3D imaging technology that can improve the outcome of prostate cancer treatment. Under the PTPS project, new technologies were developed by Israeli company INSIGHTEC, together with German researchers. These technologies aid in the performance of non-invasive, focused ultrasound treatment. Guided by magnetic resonance images on a screen, doctors direct a high-intensity ultrasound beam, using heat generated at the beam focused to destroy cancerous tissue. Until now, the best equipment on the market provided 2D imaging.

The more realistic 3D display helps doctors avoid damaging organs near the prostate, such as the bladder, rectum, sphincter and nerve muscles. This reduces the risk of undesirable effects leading to incontinency or impotence. In the EU, more than 350,000 men per year are diagnosed with prostate cancer. INSIGHTEC is marketing the system, which mounts on typical MR scanner tables.

Project funded by Israel European R&D Directorate ISERD (Israel), and German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Germany)

Researchers from Finland, France and Germany developed tools for network operators serving growing numbers of mobile device users. Their work optimises 5G mobile communications and paves the way for better services. Smartphone users expect high-quality and affordable services, and ever-faster connections, while the telecommunications industry moves towards open-source software and cloud technologies. Operators are migrating software from application-specific hardware platforms to large-scale data centres. The SIGMONA project leverages novel software-defined networking, a cloud-based solution that enables direct programming of network control, and the abstraction of underlying infrastructure from applications and services.

The end result is higher throughput, optimised network flow management and new traffic engineering possibilities. Researchers developed eight new or improved products for network operators, hired 13 new employees and established a spin-off company. Partners in Finland deployed a national 5G test network. SIGMONA won the 2019 Innovation Award at the Eureka Global Innovation Summit in Manchester.

A Lithuanian-Swiss partnership developed a system to advance research into diabetes and other metabolic disorders. Molecules have unique light-absorption qualities which act like a fingerprint for identifying markers of disease. By shining a laser onto a substance, such as blood or a person’s skin, the reflected light can help measure specific metabolite concentrations. Researchers in the SWIRSENSE project developed a new tuneable laser technology for remote-sensing critical components of blood such as glucose, lactates, urea and serum albumin, without having to take blood samples from patients.

Current technologies that do similar work cost upwards of 70,000 euro. The new system uses a short-wavelength infrared spectral range (the little-used but potentially valuable region between 1.7 and 2.5 micrometres) and is expected to cost as little as 5,000 euro. From 1980 to 2014, the number of people suffering from diabetes quadrupled to 422 million, indicating huge market potential for the SWIRSENSE system.

Project funded by MITA, Lithuanian Agency for Science, Innovation and Technology, and Research and Innovation Switzerland

The Eurostars XAMFLOW project developed clever software to make high-tech scanning more efficient and less labour-intensive. Micro-computed tomography or micro-CT is essentially x-ray imaging in 3D, based on the same technology used in hospital CT scans, but on a small scale, with massively increased resolution. Once limited to the medical field, the method is now used in many sectors; whenever someone wants to assess the internal microstructure of a material, from synthetic or animal matter to fossils, food and much more.

Micro-CT is a complex and time-consuming process, involving many manual steps and requiring the scanning of multiple samples. The advanced software platform developed by XAMFLOW helps users to streamline micro-CT processes, saving time and money. The system is highly flexible and can be modified to support different domains and customer needs. New work on the platform includes the use of artificial intelligence to identify different tissues and structures inside humans and animals.

Project funded by Swiss Commission of Technology and Innovation KTI, and VINNOVA, Swedish innovation agency

German partners and a Swedish SME have developed a highly sensitive laser heating, tapering and splicing system that is both robust and versatile. High-precision lasers are used in many manufacturing techniques and SMARTSPLICER™ fulfilled the need for a cost-efficient and environmentally friendly system that doesn’t require additional heat or consumables and needs low maintenance.

SMARTSPLICER™ has a powerful CO2-based heat source and precise optics for splicing (based on Axicon Splicing™ technology) with a configurable software-controlled ring that shapes laser beams to match the width of the optical component being processed. These adjustable parameters result in uniform optical power. When the tool is used vertically (method based on Gravity Splicing™), gravity also helps tapering and lensing operations.

The final product is advanced and unique, and commercialised for delicate glass, photonic- and fibre-related joining and processing jobs e.g. for bulk production of lenses, in medical devices, sensors, telecom fibre-optics and R&D applications.

Funded by BMBF and Vinnova

Two ground-breaking sensors that convey information crucial for preventing brain damage in millions of patients every year have been developed and patented by Swiss, German and Austrian SMEs and universities.

Imaging devices currently in use are costly and too bulky for the bedside and surgical theatres, so a Eurostars consortium developed two marketable sensors that accurately determine the volume of blood flowing and oxygen concentration in the brain: NeMo Probe is inserted into the brain (when a pressure probe is introduced) and NeMo Patch is applied to the scalp externally. Miniaturised optoelectronics are used to extract information that is then displayed on an interface suited to a clinical environment.

The products are ready for commercialisation and the participants involved are already looking for new applications of the technology and developing devices in parallel to continue to improve treatments.

Project funded by Innosuisse, BMBF and FFG

The world’s first rapid test for tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) has been developed by a collaboration between a Finnish SME and university and a Swedish research organisation. Quick treatment of TBE saves lives, but processing test results currently takes days. ReaScan® is a small low-cost diagnosis that can test immediately after infection and give results in 20 minutes. It needs one drop of blood to detect antibodies combatting the pathogen soon after exposure, and it’s accurate even for diseases known to produce false positives. The project also developed two tests for laboratories that can process batches of samples simultaneously.

ReaScan® has no competing devices and project participants have conducted trials to highlight its reliability. Reagena Oy has seen an annual turnover increase of over 20% with 10% of the company’s turnover coming from this product alone. Eureka accelerated the development of these diagnosis products, which are now on sale around Europe.

Funded by Business Finland and Vinnova

HOLO-3 may be invaluable for testing semiconductors, as manufacturers of electronics shift from using silicone to cheaper, more flexible and sophisticated “inorganic” materials. A consortium of Lithuanian and German organisations saw the need for advanced testing that examines the nanostructures of a material. They have pushed the frontier of quantum electronics and applied physics to create HOLO-3: a non-destructive, laser-based holographic technology that monitors the fast-electrical properties of materials. This user-friendly and reliable prototype has laser beams that charge the electrical and optical properties of a material and then convey what changes have taken place.

The prototype is on its way to being developed into a diagnostic device, as project partner (and world-leading supplier) Aixtron has already enhanced the quality of their semiconductors. The HOLO-3 project has also enabled the refinement of the spatio-temporal characterisation process and the publication of papers on holographic techniques.

Project funded by MITA and BMBF