As a consequence of the ageing of the society, osteoporosis (literally “porous bone”) and its complications is becoming more and more prevalent, making the bone disease a health priority in many parts of the world. Currently osteoporosis is commonly known as a “silent killer” disease. Usually osteoporosis manifests itself in a drastic manner, i.e. through fracture of the osteoporotic bone in the affected individual. Until now little or no measures for prevention or early detection of this disease are taken, because no simple, yet sufficiently precise or sensitive tools for early detection of individuals at risk of osteoporosis are available. The overall objective of the currently proposed PoCOsteo project therefore is the development, clinical validation and preparation for commercialisation of a Point-of-Care tool for bone disease (a.o. osteoporisis) prevention, detection and treatment. To realize this objective a balanced consortium of 5 research partners and 3 SME’s has been brought together, and a well considered workplan devised. Two TRL3 technologies for individual proteomic and genomic electrochemical sensors, available from 2 consortium partners will form the base of the developments. The sensors will be further optimised, combined in a single microfluidic cartridge and integrated in a complete and independent point-of-care bone health assessment tool. The tool will consequently be clinically validated in 2 hospitals (Graz and Tehran), and a business plan for a commercial start-up company wil be prepared for the intended valorisation of the technical and medical activities. The aim is to reach a TRL6 / TRL7 for the complete tool and for the combined microfluidci cartridges. The project will be supported and advised by the IOF, the International Osteoporosis Foundation, which is the main global alliance of patient societies, research organizations, healthcare professionals and international companies working to promote bone, muscle and joint health.

Early identification of individuals at risk for CVD allows early intervention to halt or reverse the pathological process. This is the driver of Medtronic and partners to develop a mobile, low-cost, non-invasive, point-of-care screening device for CVD. Assessment of arterial stiffness by measurement of the aortic pulse wave velocity (aPWV) is included in the latest ESC/ESH guidelines for CVD risk prediction. Besides aPWV, early identification of arterial stenosis and cardiac contraction abnormalities can be used to improve CVD risk classification. However, no tools are available today to screen a large population at primary care on these parameters, and individuals that are considered to be at low or moderate risk are too often undiagnosed. The objective of CARDIS is to investigate and demonstrate the concept of a mobile, low-cost device based on a silicon photonics integrated laser Doppler vibrometer and validate the concept for the screening of arterial stiffness, detection of stenosis and heart failure. We will: •Investigate, design and fabricate the optical subsystems and components: silicon photonics chip with integrated Ge-detectors, micro-optics, micro-optical laser bench, optical package •Integrate the subsystems and build a multi-array laser interferometer system •Develop a process flow scalable to high volumes for all sub-systems and their integration steps •Investigate and develop the biomechanical model to translate optical signals related to skin-level vibrations into underlying CVD physiological events •Validate the system in a clinical setting Photonics integration is needed to enable a device that is mobile (small size, small weight, robust (no moving parts), low cost (high volume scalable process flow) and allows fast screening (laser array). The partners commit to protect IP whenever possible, disseminate results via open access and, if target specs are met, commercially exploit and transfer the technology to create social and economic impact.