Funding for six projects Open Technology Programme

Open Technologieprogramma

Six research projects received funding this month within the Open Technology Programme (OTP). The projects awarded funding range from the monitoring of muscle diseases and a new type of WiFi to molecular motors.

The OTP provides funding for excellent research, with a focus on the possible application of the results. The programme offers companies and other organisations a low-threshold way of linking up with scientific research that should lead to applicable knowledge.

See below for the projects that can now be started.

OTP 2022 documents available

The Open Technology Programme 2022 call opens on 1 January. The new documents and forms to be used for this are now available on the funding page of Open Technology Programme 2022.

  • Nanophotonic Metasurfaces for Optical Wireless Communication (Nano-WiCom) - prof. dr. J. Gomez Rivas, Eindhoven University of Technology (19204)

    The goal of this project is to realize very low étendue (beamed) and efficient emission at a very fast rate (sub-100 picosecond) and to detect this emission with fast integrated photodetectors. This goal will be achieved by merging nanostructured surfaces with infrared emitters and integrated cascaded aperture optical receivers. The hybrid devices will be used to obtain efficient and fast optical detection for wireless optical communication technology (technology that uses light to transmit data between devices). Our focus will be on telecom wavelengths to enable the utilization of these components with the fast-evolving field of integrated photonics. To achieve the low étendue and ultrafast emission in the infrared that is necessary for efficient coupling of the emission to small area (large bandwidth) detectors, we will use carbon nanotubes strongly coupled to optical modes in metasurfaces (nanostructured surfaces with resonant scatterers). The strong light-matter coupling will lead to an increased and redshifted emission, while the design of the metasurface to a reduction of the étendue by the directional outcoupling of the emission.

  • Learning from old maps to create new ones - dr. ir. S.J. Oude Elberink, University of Twente (19206)

    Maps are getting outdated quickly. About 10 % of the objects change annually. This project focusses on methods to automatically interpret newly acquired sensor data to detect and to update the changed objects in the digital map. The sensor data includes high resolution 2D aerial image data and 3D laser scanner data. Our approach is to use the existing (old) digitals maps to learn how various objects appear in these 2D and 3D datasets. The first step is to design a fusion step between nationwide map data and sensor data to be able to generate a massive training dataset. The second step is to set up a deep learning network for the classification of the sensor data into the learned map classes. The third step handles the incorporation of the detected changes in order to update the map. Key element is to correctly feed the deep learning networks, for which we need training data. And this is where the existing map appears to be crucial: it teaches the network how objects appear in the sensor data, and how the objects should be delineated.

  • DOMINOES - Development of dynamic 3D-MRI technology to assess skeletal muscle diseases - prof. dr. ir. G.J. Strijkers, Amsterdam UMC (19218)

    Skeletal muscles undergo an age-dependent loss of mass and function in a disease known as sarcopenia. Similarly, but usually most faster, most neuromuscular diseases are characterized by progressive muscle weakness. Patients experience limitations in locomotion and eventually lose the possibility of independent life. Muscle magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is considered a valuable outcome measure in clinical trials that target sarcopenia- and neuromuscular-disease-related decline in muscle function. However, current muscle MRI provides only structural readouts of atrophy and fat-deposition, which represent end-stage disease and thus do not provide the best targets for novel early and preventive therapy. Because of the central role of muscle contractile properties in human physical mobility, we hypothesize that MRI measures of muscle contractility under realistic stress conditions are needed as clinical outcomes and to understand pathophysiology. In this project we will therefore develop the technology for dynamic 3D MRI of motion and contractility of the upper leg muscles during a stress-test in the scanner using an MRI-compatible ergometer. Additionally, we will apply the technology in patients suffering from sarcopenia and neuromuscular diseasesenhancing the clinical utility of the technology.

  • Next-generation organ-on-a-chip model for research and drug evaluation in fibrotic diseases – FibOoC - prof. dr. ir. S. le Gac, University of Twente (19219)

    45% of deaths in the industrialized world are due to diseases that involve chronic inflammation and organ fibrosis. Organ fibrosis refers to the gradual stiffening and worsening of organ function over time. There are no effective ways to treat it, and it is associated with poor patient outcome. Novel methods to study fibrosis and develop therapies are urgently needed. In FibOoC, we will develop a fibrotic disease model as an organ-on-a-chip. Based on human cells, the model will recapitulate all features of the disease that current animal models fail to emulate. The model incorporates essential fibrotic disease features, including patient-derived cell types grown in 3D, low oxygen (hypoxia) and mechanical forces. As a representative disease, FibOoC focuses on systemic sclerosis, a very severe fibrotic auto-immune diseases that usually strikes in the prime of life. We will characterize our model using advanced analytical methods to identify diagnostic and prognostic disease signatures and utilize it to investigate (novel) therapies for precision medicine. FibOoC will open new avenues in research in fibrotic diseases and will be conducted by a multi-disciplinary consortium combining expertise ranging from engineering to fundamental biology and clinical research.

  • Light triggered molecular switches & motors: Unravelling the molecular mechanism behind motion at the nanoscale - prof. dr. W.H. Roos, University of Groningen (19235)

    In this project the researchers develop a technological approach to decipher the nanoscale dynamics of synthetic molecular machines. Such machines, for instance nanoswitches and nanomotors, have recently gained increasing interest in research and development. By introducing an additional light path in a very fast, nanoscale microscope, it will become possible to trigger motion at will, just by turning the light on and off. Simultaneously the researchers will follow the movement at the single molecule level, shedding light onto the hitherto concealed mechanisms of motion of these tiny objects. Next to generating fundamental new insights, the research and development within this project is expected to find applications in industry and health care such as for instance in soft robotics and for smart drug delivery systems.

  • Combating bone metastases by bone tumor-targeted delivery of radioactive platinum-based anticancer drugs with combined chemo- and radiotherapeutic efficacy (PlatiBone) - prof. dr. ir. S.C.G. Leeuwenburgh, Radboud University Medical Center (19261)

    Bone cancers cause severe bone destruction, which poses an enormous health burden. In this project we will develop a novel radiopharmaceutical solution for effective systemic treatment of bone metastases by designing bone tumor-targeting radioactive platinum-based drugs which combine diagnostic, chemotherapeutic and radiotherapeutic potential. As compared to existing radiopharmaceuticals, our novel anticancer drugs will be targeted more efficiently towards bone metastases. Moreover, these drugs will emit radiation energy over very short distances due to their sub-micron penetration depth. Consequently, cancer cells will be effectively killed without harming surrounding healthy cells.