As a consortium, we are convinced that the success of the LUCA project is related to our consortium's multidisciplinary approach, the excellent relations with our industry partners, European collaborations, even beyond the field of photonics, and, not least, the investment in our research by the European Commission and the Photonics21 Public Private Partnership. Here you can find some highlights of our research output and collaborations:
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Read up on the LUCA project results in our deliverables and scientific publications.
As an innovative medical devices and solutions company, our partner HemoPhotonics (HEMO) is involved in the development of the LUCA system and the integration of the photonics technologies and works with other partners to exploit the project results.
Founded in 2013 as spin-off of the ICFO-The Institute of Photonic Sciences, Barcelona, Spain, HemoPhotonicsfocuses on commercializing portable, non-invasive, and real-time blood flow monitoring devices based on photonics.
The HEMO team is led by Dr. Udo Weigel. Read our interview with Udo to find out more about HemoPhotonics.
VERMON is committed to serving the industry by designing and manufacturing advanced and unique transducer technologies. The company is dedicated to supporting their customer’s innovative ultrasound diagnostic modalities as well as strengthening their long-term market position with superior ultrasound imaging performance
VERMON designs, produces and controls all probe acoustic components, manufacturing tools and technologies. The industrial organization addresses a very diverse customer base, from early stage R&D performers to ultrasound market leaders over a very broad product portfolio.
Within LUCA, VERMON is responsible for the development of the optical-ultrasound probe for point-of-care diagnostic of the thyroid and shares its know-how in medical device manufacture with the consortium.
IMV Imaging brings vast expertise in ultrasound imaging systems, both from a technical and a marketing point of view, to the consortium. Within their role in LUCA, they have developed a specific interface software to integrate a high-end Exapad system together with the optical modalities of the LUCA demonstrator, which offers clinicians the ability to drive all functions and retrieve optical measurements results through the ultrasound imaging system user interface. Moreover, they have contributed to multi-modality phantom design and have been involved in exploitation activities of the project.
Previously known as BCF Technology and ECM (Echo Control Medical) and now part of the IMV Technologies group, IMV imaging are leaders in veterinary imaging. The company has been committed to helping their customers improve animal care for over 35 years. With their core values of partnership, innovation and learning, IMV Imaging is are dedicated to providing the best equipment, advice, learning, customer care and technical support.
Read more about IMV Imaging's role in the LUCA project in our interview with Sixte de Fraguier.
Get to know the LUCA consortium in these videos:
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LUCA actively participated in the “Common Dissemination Booster”, a pilot programme of the European Commission to boost dissemination capabilities and outreach together with two other projects: SOLUS (Smart optical and ultrasound diagnostics of breast cancer, led by POLIMI) and PAMMOTH (Photoacoustic/Ultrasound Mammoscopy for evaluating screening-detected abnormalities in the breast, led by the University of Twente).
As part of this programme, the three projects have collaborated on a joint policy brief entitled "Protecting society through innovative technologies for cancer screening" to raise awareness of the potential of photonics technologies to enhance screening accuracy.
LUCA, PAMMOTH and SOLUS are all developing multi-modal approaches that show great promise for the future of smart screening. Based upon the experience of these projects, the policy brief sets out a number of recommendations for strong policy formulation supporting the goals of improved screening and reducing costly unnecessary surgeries, and the promotion of innovation technologies for screening in the medical field and beyond:
Recommendation #1: Enhanced Non-Invasive Breast and Thyroid Cancer Screening Programmes
Recommendation #2: Promotion of Innovative Photonics-based Technologies in Medicine and Beyond
Recommendation #3: Improving the Time-to-Market for Innovative Photonics-based Technologies
Read the policy brief in full here.
In an extraordinary collaboration with the LUCA researchers, the artist Reiko Yamada has developed an artistic research project based on the LUCA results. In her project “Beyond Absolute”, sound artist Reiko Yamada uses sound to express the feelings of patients with thyroid disorders.
The main component of “Beyond Absolute” is the creation of personalized acousmatic soundscapes based on the data generated by the LUCA diagnostic device in conjunction with sonic alterations that represent the subjective mindset of the patients. The title of the project refers both to the representational character of the project (as opposed to absolute music), but also to the effort it makes to transcend, without denying, the objective physiological measurements at the root of modern scientific medicine.
Listen to a work-in-progress track from the project for the representation of "muddy". More sound samples can be found on Reiko's tumblr page.
Hear directly from Reiko about her project:
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Follow the project on Reiko's website.
This project has received funding from the European Union‘s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 688303 and is an initiative of the Photonics Public Private Partnership.
Copyright LUCA 2016
