A breakthrough in microscopy and endoscopy is set to revolutionise how we study the cellular origin of diseases – advancing the field of precision medicine.
A trans-national European Commission funded project – The CRIMSON Project – is aiming to develop the next-generation bio-photonics imaging device for biomedical research, combining advanced laser techniques with Artificial Intelligence (AI) data analysis.
The project will be co-ordinated by the University Politecnico di Milano. The results from the project could have a potentially profound societal impact, which could help to improve the quality of life for patients across Europe, as well as reducing public healthcare costs.
The CRIMSON project
The CRIMSON project, which launched on 1 December 2020, will last for 42 months and will be allocated a budget of more than €5m. The project will simulate future in-vivo studies and demonstrate the capability to image inside of the body and applying the method to ex-vivo thick tissue samples.
This groundbreaking microscope will provide three-dimensional quantitative maps of sub-cellular compartments in living cells and organoids, enabling fast tissue classification with high biomolecular sensitivity. High acquisition speed will also allow for the observation of intra- and inter-cellular dynamic changes by time-lapse imaging.
Three research centres including Politecnico di Milano, Italy, Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology e.V, Germany, and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France, will develop the technology. Three biomedical partners, which are Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Italy, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, France, and Jena University Hospital, Germany, will validate the imaging system on open biological questions related to cancer.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.
