Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a revolutionizing in-vivo 3D imaging technique for non-invasive optical biopsy addressing medical needs in early diagnosis and effective disease management. OCT has proven its value primarily in ophthalmology but more recently also in a variety of other medical fields. However, wide adoption in health care, a requirement for effective therapy control, has not taken place mainly due to cost limitations and the non-existence of miniaturized mobile devices. Integrated photonics is expected to leverage off many advances made in integrated electronics. Based on photonic integrated circuit technology, HandheldOCT will enable a new generation of handheld OCT systems in the 1060nm wavelength region for optimum tissue penetration with step-changes in imaging performance (4x faster imaging speed), with size (10x smaller) and cost (2-5x cheaper) beyond state-of-the-art. The monolithic integration of silicon nitride optical waveguides, Germanium photodiodes, and micro-optics combined with the hybrid integration of a novel compact all-semiconductor akinetic swept source will enable a mobile, low-cost solution of high usability. HandheldOCT is expected to contribute significantly to a widespread adoption of OCT in point-of-care diagnostics (e.g. for new-born, children, bedridden elderly, home remote diagnosis) and for diagnostic-driven therapy of major sight-threatening, mostly age-related retinal pathologies with the aim to improve patient outcome and reduce healthcare costs. The endeavour is strongly driven by companies and research organisations with solid expertise in silicon foundry technology, miniaturized laser sources, photonic design and packaging, electronics, and medical OCT system integration. The consortium includes clinicians and the world-leading ophthalmic equipment manufacturer focusing on implementing diagnostically relevant specifications and the translational clinical proof-of-principle testing on a small patient cohort.

Modern societies and economies increasingly depend on the massive generation of data resulting from the exponential growth of internet applications. Drastically enhanced computational performance is in particular needed for a plethora of applications in artificial intelligence (AI) which necessitate unprecedented processing power, memory and communication bandwidth. This demand cannot be met by modern digital electronic technologies that are rapidly approaching their physical limits. The PHOENICS consortium will break through these barriers and lay the foundation for a disruptive neuromorphic compute platform based on hybrid photonic integrated circuits. By providing access to parallelized neuromorphic processing using wavelength division multiplexing, the PHOENICS consortium will harness exceptional scaling potential not available to electronic systems and will deliver multiply-accumulate (MAC) performance at 3.2 PetaMAC/s at an energy cost of 50 FemtoJoule/MAC. Building on a hybrid architecture with substantial potential for future upscaling, the PHOENICS project aims at implementing a disruptive architecture which outperforms state-of-the-art electronic neuromorphic hardware. The consortium partners have shown the significant technological potential that a photonic approach can offer by establishing a new brain-inspired computing paradigm using phase-change-materials. By implementing scalable systems based on foundry processing for creating bio-mimicking material platforms, the PHOENICS consortium will provide a new generation of photonic hardware accelerators for neuromorphic processing and develop a strong ecosystem for photonic computing. The PHOENICS technology will thereby directly impact today’s technology and likewise address future needs for high bandwidth and low latency compute systems for AI.

We aim to transform virus biomanufacturing processes and enable new quality control strategies by a continuous, real-time capable biohybrid sensor technology to detect cell-based virus infection cycles. BioProS sensor concept makes use of an optical sensor technology in combination with cell-based measurement principles. In this context a platform technology will be developed that can be adapted to multiple specific analytes which enables its applicability in different industries and production settings. The development of such platform technology together with its technological complexity requires the involvement of multiple stakeholders throughout Europe and across disciplines (biology, engineering science, data science, manufacturing experts). Digitalisation has to extend from the very beginning of the process into the whole manufacturing chain, utilising all advances achieved in smart and lot-size-one manufacturing in recent years. This leads to the closely intertwined interaction of technical, informational and biological systems also referred to as bio-intelligent systems. This new paradigm opens up a large new space for innovations, recognised as a strategic field in America, Asia and Europe. Based on the manufacturing excellence leadership of Europe, BioProS will significantly contribute to all expected impacts of the Destination “Digital and Emerging Technologies” and explicitly to each of the four expected outcomes of this call topic. The consortium aims to gather all required expertise and set the basis for international partnerships. In close cooperation with pan-European initiatives and with the support of an industry advisory board, project partners aim to transform the vision of bio-intelligent manufacturing and demonstrate the applicability of disruptive technologies in an industrial setting. We will promote the research community for bio-intelligent methods and applications worldwide, and at the same time create technology sovereignty for Europe.