Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) e.g. osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, joint & ligament wear, frailty fractures and associated complications in elderly are a severe threat frequently leading to a permanent decline of the patient’s general health and autonomy. NCD prevention is highly relevant to reduce the need for long-term care. The economic burden is expected to increase by 65% from 2020 to 2040 with a strong negative impact on patient’s quality of life. SmILE will provide a cross-sectoral, early risk detection methodology by holistic analysis of elderly patients’ health data. Co-creation with end-users and consideration of diverse needs, mental and physical abilities, living and socio-economic conditions as well as life-situation of older people are implemented. This includes training and enhanced stream of information to patients and other stakeholders. It will offer an AI-based patient analysis, incl. integration of smart wearables and medical devices incl. implants to support monitoring of general health status. Our approach will disrupt the cycle of frailty by minimizing physical decline and risk of re-fractures. To enhance the AI functions, new data sources will be established by instrumenting medical devices, mainly implants, to augment them into monitoring and actively supporting devices. SMILE will: (1) develop an integrated platform to collect, centralize, manage, analyze and share multimorbid geriatric patient data using technology such as AI & machine learning; (2) establish a pan-European bottom-up model of good governance of health data being patient-centered and patient-controlled in line with current regulations; and (3) establish a solution driven by the needs of citizens and patients of old age. SMILE will establish a new approach of outcome-monitoring to provide patient centered, personalized and integrated treatment of elderly NCD patients to improve quality of life, enable real empowerment and ease the financial burden in an ageing society.

Compared to the pace of innovation in electronic consumer products, the pace of innovation for medical devices is lagging behind. It is the overarching objective of Moore4Medical to accelerate innovation in electronic medical devices. Moore4Medical emerging medical applications that offer significant new opportunities for the ECS industry including: active implantable devices (bioelectronic medicines), organ-on-chip, drug adherence monitoring, smart ultrasound, radiation free interventions and continuous monitoring. The new technologies will help fighting the increasing cost of healthcare by: reducing the need for hospitalization, helping the development of personalized therapies, and realizing intelligent point-of-care diagnostic tools. Moore4Medical will bring together 68 specialists from 12 countries who will develop open technology platforms for these emerging fields to help them bridge “the Valley of Death” in shorter time and at lower cost. Open technology platforms used by multiple users for multiple applications with the prospect of medium to high volume markets are an attractive proposition for the European ECS industry. The combination of typical MedTech applications with an ECS style platform approach will enhance the competitiveness for the emerging medical domains addressed in Moore4Medical. With value and IP moving from the technology level towards applications and solutions, defragmentation and open technology platforms will be key in acquiring and maintaining a premier position for Europe in the forefront of affordable healthcare

The SPINNER EID will train a group of Bioengineering early stage researchers to be in a position to design the next generation of repair materials and techniques for spine surgery. SPINNER brings together partners from the biomaterials (Finceramica), implantable devices (Aesculap), and computational modelling (Ansys, Adagos) industries with orthopaedic clinicians (National Centre for Spinal Disorders, NCSD) and academic experts in cell, tissue and organ scale biomaterials and medical device testing (Universities of Sheffield and Bologna). All projects will be fully grounded in practical industrial and clinical requirements, where the number of patients requiring complex spine surgery is rapidly expanding, and the biomedical engineering industry needs suitably trained, innovators to produce economic solutions to support healthy ageing for the people of Europe.