Photonics leading many technical developments, including medical innovations

Photonics has a leading role in many technical developments, including healthcare innovations. Adimec (Netherlands) and LL Tech (France), together with several partners, as part of the CAReIOCA project are developing & validating a high-resolution high-speed imaging-based medical device to perform non-invasive optical biopsy for cancer assessment.

Photonics is the study and technology of the use of light for the transmission of information. Photonics has lead to developments in many applications including telecommunications, military technology, biophotonics, robotics, and medicine (surgery, vision correction, endoscopy, health monitoring, and more. (source Wikipedia).

In the coming years Photonics will be one of the key pillars for technology innovation sponsored by the European Committee (Horizon2020). On September 25, 2013, the Embassy of the Netherlands in Paris organized the seminar ‘Photonics for the Future’ bringing together Dutch and French companies in the Photonics industry. Adimec was one of the participating Dutch companies. The video below provides a nice summary of initiatives in Photonics from Europe. The video emphasizes that photonics is what electronics was 40 years ago. 

In medical applications, photonics is driving innovations for less invasive diagnostics and surgery, and more.  There are many projects from the EU to support these developments, such as the CAReIOCA project (European Union Seventh Framework Program FP7-ICT-2011-9).

The goal of CAReIOCA is to provide pathologists and/or surgeons non-invasive optical imaging at the cellular level within the human body in real time.  The optical technology used in the end system is based on Full Field Optical Coherence Tomography (FFOCT), a technique that enables volumetric image capture on semi-transparent tissue at micron resolution in 3D.  The technology intends to assist in diagnosis, particularly of cancer, in skin, breast, prostate, brain etc, as well as quality control of biopsies.

Here is an interview of representatives Adimec and LL Tech, 2 of the companies involved in the project:

Adimec is one of five partners in this project and will contribute in the development of a specific high-performance CMOS CoaXPress camera. CAReIOCA website: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/104969_en.html

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