Titel Promotor Affiliaties "Korte inhoud" "Driedimensionale borstkankermodellen voor X-ray Imaging onderzoek." "Hilde Bosmans" "Medische Fysica & Kwaliteitscontrole" "Nowadays, the development of realistic three-dimensional computational and physical models of breast tumours with irregular shapes is an urgent requirement. The availability of such models is a powerful instrument in the hands of engineers, physicians and physicists to be used in the development of new technologies for precise definition of the boundaries of these cancers.Scientists from the biomedical engineering unit at Technical University of Varna are present in this area both at modelling and simulation of computational breast phantoms and x-ray breast imaging techniques. To advance in their research aims and therefore to raise the profile of their researchers and S&T capacity of the host organisation, collaborations with top research institutions from complementary areas of expertise are a requirement. In addition, the touch with world experts in this area is needed in order to have local researchers at host informed about the most current findings in the field and to discuss specific scientific issues that otherwise will not have such a chance.The main objective of this action is to increase the research and innovation capacity of the host organisation in the field of computational modelling of breast tumours (including cancers with irregular shape) and their use in studies of advanced x-ray breast imaging techniques such as breast tomosynthesis and phase contrast imaging. For this purpose, the project will establish a close and sustainable collaboration platform, in the form of a network of three scientific groups working in the specific domain of modelling and simulations dedicated for studies of x-ray breast imaging techniques.The network will aim toincrease the research and innovation capacity of the host organisationintegrate results of ongoing researchfacilitate progress beyond the actual individual possibilitiesadvance the research activities of all partners through a joint and mutually fruitful collaboration." "European Novel Imaging Systems for ION therapy" "Stefaan Vandenberghe" "Vakgroep Elektronica en Informatiesystemen" "Het Envision project ontwikkelt nieuwe technieken voor on-line dosis monitoring en kwaliteitstesten door de ontwikkeling van nieuwe beeldvormingsmodaliteiten. Deze zijn gebaseerd op de interacties van de bundel met het object en laten toe om het behandelde volume te bepalen en de geleverde dosis te bepalen. Er wordt vooral gewerkt op de detectie van deeltjes die vrijkomen door nucleaire reacties (positron emittors voor in beam PET en fotonen voor in beam single particle imaging." "Hybride PET-MR-systeem voor gelijktijdige ultragevoelige imaging" "Stefaan Vandenberghe" "Vakgroep Elektronica en Informatiesystemen, Heidelberg University, Fondazione Bruno Kessler, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, King's College London, Spanish National Cancer Research Centre" "De HYPERImage project zal een nieuwe hybride systeem voor simultane whole-body PET-MRI beeldvorming voor de mens te ontwikkelen, zal het de gewenste tijd-of-fight (TOF) PET-technologie, en de software voor MR-bemiddelde compensatie van de beweging artefacten te bevorderen. Het hybride systeem zal worden gevalideerd in preklinische en de eerste klinische studies, voor de voorbeeldige toepassingen in cardiovasculaire ziekten, en bij borstkanker als een van de meest relevante toepassingen in de oncologie. Voor deze laatste toepassing wordt het concept worden uitgebreid van zuivere imaging richting beeldgeleide therapie." "Europese nucleaire wetenschaps- en toepassingsonderzoek 2" "Riccardo Raabe" "Kern- en Stralingsfysica (IKS)" "ENSAR2 is the integrating activity for European nuclear scientists who are performing research in three of the major subfields defined by NuPECC: Nuclear Structure and Dynamics, Nuclear Astrophysics and Nuclear Physics Tools and Applications. It proposes an optimised ensemble of Networking (NAs), Joint Research (JRAs) and Transnational Access Activities (TAs), which will ensure qualitative and quantitative improvement of the access provided by the current ten infrastructures, which are at the core of this proposal. The novel and innovative developments that will be achieved by the RTD activities will also assure state-of-the-art technology needed for the new large-scale projects.Our community of nuclear scientists profits from the diverse range of world-class research infrastructures all over Europe that can supply different ion beams and energies and, with ELI-NP, high-intensity gamma-ray beams up to 20 MeV. We have made great effort to make the most efficient use of these facilities by developing the most advanced and novel equipment needed to pursue their excellent scientific programmes and applying state-of-the-art developments to other fields and to benefit humanity (e.g. archaeology, medical imaging). Together with multidisciplinary and application-oriented research at the facilities, these activities ensure a high-level socio-economic impact.To enhance the access to these facilities, the community has defined a number of JRAs, using as main criterion scientific and technical promise. These activities deal with novel and innovative technologies to improve the operation of the facilities.The NAs of ENSAR2 have been set-up with specific actions to strengthen the communities' coherence around certain resarch topics and to ensure a broad dissemination of results and stimulate multidisciplinary, application-oriented research and innovation at the Research Infrastructures." "Beeldvormingstechnologieën van de volgende generatie om de structuur en functie van biologische monsters op verschillende schalen in hun natuurlijke context te onderzoeken" "Ann Vanreusel" "Biologie, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Sorbonne University, Human Technopole, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Marine Biological Resource Centre, Royal Institute of Technology, LEICA MICROSYSTEMS CMS GMBH, EMBL ENTERPRISE MANAGEMENTTECHNOLOGY TRANSFER GMBH, Leiden University Medical Center, Instruct-ERIC, ARINAX, CENTRO DE CIENCIAS DO MAR DO ALGARVE, Max Planck Society, Universidade de Vigo" "Het door de EU gefinancierde IMAGINE-project richt zich op het ontwikkelen en integreren van belangrijke verstorende microscopietechnologieën om schaaloverschrijdend structureel en functioneel onderzoek van biologische specimens in hun natuurlijke context mogelijk te maken. Mogelijkheden voor beeldanalyse op basis van AI ondersteunen de integratie van technologie en maken gegevens algemeen beschikbaar. Om de kracht van beeldvorming te benutten voor een aantal van de meest urgente maatschappelijke uitdagingen, zal IMAGINE zijn nieuwe beeldvormingstechnologieën voorbereiden voor gebruik in het veld, op de Europese zeeën en kustlijnen, met als doel het verzamelen van milieuspecimens te koppelen aan hun studie met behulp van de beeldvorming met de hoogste resolutie. IMAGINE streeft ernaar zijn nieuwe beeldvormingstechnologieën dienstklaar te maken en deze te laten valideren als toekomstige diensten door Europa's beeldvormingsonderzoeksinfrastructuren. Het uiteindelijke doel is te zorgen voor een breed gebruik van de nieuwe technologieën door de Europese biowetenschappelijke gemeenschap." "Integratie van magnetische resonantie SPectroscopie en multimodale beeldvorming voor onderzoek en onderwijs in geneeskunde" "Sabine Van Huffel" "Dynamische Systemen, Signaalverwerking en Gegevensanalyse (STADIUS), Biomedische MRI" "INSPiRE-MED will provide research and training to 15 early career researchers in the field of medical imaging, specifically Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) and Spectroscopic Imaging (MRSI), combined with MR Imaging and Positron Emission Tomography (PET). INSPiRE-MED Fellows will acquire skills to develop careers contributing to innovative technological advances in medical imaging in a multi-disciplinary environment encompassing physics, mathematical and computer sciences leading to applications in medicine and biological sciences. The 12 academic and 9 industrial partners will provide the Fellows with transferable and generic skills as well as a comprehensive, wide-ranging education on the basic principles of medical imaging and image analysis. This fundamental knowledge will be combined with in-depth learning in a specific area, through local delivery via graduate schools, programme-wide INSPiRE-MED training activities and workshops and personal academic supervision by two INSPiRE-MED supervisors. This will enable them to successfully participate in developing new tools for clinicians.MRS is a unique, non-invasive molecular technique that has proved useful for diagnosis and therapy management in disease models and patients. Despite its potential, the clinical uptake of MRS has lagged behind that of MRI and PET. Thus, INSPiRE-MED will have 3 objectives, encapsulated in 3 research Work Packages (WP):1) Development of novel acquisition and processing techniques allowing MRS(I) to become a key tool in medical imaging (WP1); 2) Integration of innovative MRS(I) techniques in several key clinical and pre-clinical applications including a multimodal metabolic approach based on MR/PET (WP2); 3) Translation of most advanced research in MRS(I) and machine learning into clinical routine by means of a fully automatic software suite, building on the well-known jMRUI package (http://www.jmrui.eu) to provide a prime tool in personalized medicine (WP 3)." "Gamma-MRI: de toekomst van moleculaire beeldvorming" "Dimitrios Sakellariou" "Membraanscheidingen, Adsorptie, Katalyse en Spectroscopie voor Duurzame Oplossingen (cMACS)" "Gamma-MRI will develop a clinical molecular imaging device based on the physical principle of anisotropic gamma emission from hyperpolarised metastable xenon. In the strategic move from “one size fits all” to personalised medicine, molecular imaging plays an essential role. However, despite significant technological advances in the last decades, medical imaging (especially for the brain) relies heavily on very expensive, complex and bulky machines. Moreover, MRI suffers from low sensitivity, only partially compensated by the recent advances in hyperpolarisation. On the other hand, the very sensitive PET and SPECT imaging modalities offer limited spatial resolution. Besides those trade-offs, the limited access to suitable devices still hinders the applicability of medical imaging to address major healthcare challenges in brain-related pathologies, even in Europe. Stroke alone is the second cause of death and the third cause of disability worldwide. The evolution of ischaemic damage varies much among patients. To achieve significant improvement in the outcome of the patients, a careful selection of the treatment path guided by images of the ischaemic brain, in a narrow time window of just a few hours is crucial. Unfortunately, point-of-care molecular imaging that could speed up patient management barely exists. Gamma-MRI is a game-changer imaging technology, combining the high sensitivity of gamma ray detection and the high resolution and flexibility of MRI, bringing down by multiple fold the cost of molecular imaging. Six closely interlinked work packages will cover: production of hyperpolarised gamma-emitting xenon isomers; preserving hyperpolarisation until delivery to targeted organ; developing advanced image acquisition and reconstruction using physics- and artificial intelligence- based approaches; designing and assembling the prototype upon a low field versatile magnet; and implementing the first preclinical Gamma-MRI brain imaging experiment." "DeLIVER: Optische microscopie van hoge resolutie van nanosized pore dynamics in endothelial cellen" "Leo A van Grunsven" "Basis (bio)-medische wetenschappen" "DeLIVER will train a new generation of ESRs in the development and application of newly developed high speed and high resolution imaging tools in biomedical research. ESRs will be cross-pollinated with concepts and skills in physics and biomedicine, in particular in super-resolution optical imaging (a.k.a. optical nanoscopy), analytical image reconstruction, and optical micro-manipulation methods. These skills are applied to reveal for the first time the function and dynamics of nanosized pores in endothelial cells (EC) that present the main barrier between the blood and vital organs for human physiology, such as the liver, brain, kidneys, and the eyes. Very little is known about the extremely important physiological function of these unique structures and their role in the transfer and/or clearance of metabolites and pharmaceuticals to vital organs. The current generation of optical nanoscopes, however, is rather slow and can only be applied to isolated, typically fixed (i.e. dead) cells rather than biomedically relevant tissues. Also, newcomers to the field need to familiarize themselves with a whole new set of potential problems that might arise in the use of optical nanoscopy, such as image reconstruction-related artifacts to name just one example. This is an area of research where European enterprises are very active. Excellent training in new scientific and complementary skills, combined with international and intersectoral work experience, will instil an innovative, creative and entrepreneurial mind-set in DeLIVER's ESRs, maximising economic benefits based on scientific discoveries. These specialised, highly trained, and mobile ESRs will have greatly enhanced career prospects. The training in novel physical methods with highly relevant experience in the biomedical sciences will allow them to confidently navigate at the interface of academic, clinical and private sector research." "Kwantificering van veroudering gerelateerde cognitieve achteruitgang en milde cognitieve stoornissen" "Marc Van Hulle" "Laboratorium voor Neuro- en Psychofysiologie" "University of Ljubljana, located in a low R&I performing country, will partner with two internationally-leading organisations, the Medical University of Graz and KU Leuven, to expand the support and coordination capacity for national and European research in ageing-related decrease in brain functions leading to dementia. By 2025 more than 25% of European population will be over 60 years old, with people over 80 increasing most rapidly. Cognitive function declines with ageing, but unpredictably, remaining practically stable over time or progress rapidly to dementia, when a person loses the ability to live independently and enjoy a reasonable quality of life. Detection of the transition from a pattern of normal, ageing-related decline to a state associated with the beginning of mild cognitive impairment is crucial for providing long term effective medical support and a better quality of life to ageing people. Several advanced brain imaging methods are used to detect mild cognitive impairment. As no single method is optimal for the early detection, there is an urgent need for further improvement/refinement of these methods. Through this proposed project we will transfer current state-of the art methods in brain imaging, including magnetic resonance imaging, electroencephalography and positron emission tomography, from the two internationally-leading organisations to Ljubljana. This will be achieved by mentored training of early stage researchers and other researchers through workshops, summer schools, short-term on-site training and expert visits. With the two internationally-leading organisations, we will prepare joint collaborative grant proposals and PhD projects during the life time of the Twinning project. These will enable further development of advanced brain imaging methods to study cognitive decline at the University of Ljubljana and sustain the newly formed research and technology network for the foreseeable future." "Het volgende generatie röntgenbeeldvormingssysteem" "Johan Nuyts" "Nucleaire Geneeskunde & Moleculaire Beeldvorming, Beeld- en Spraakverwerking (PSI)" "A photonics driven breakthrough in image quality and functionality of an interventional X-ray system will allow to perform stroke diagnosis directly in the treatment suite and have a huge impact: enhanced work flow, reduced diagnosis & treatment time (up to 50% time reduction) which will save people’s life and reduce healthcare costs.NEXIS will establish enhanced contrast Cone Beam CT imaging while keeping high spatial resolution for 2D image guidance by an innovative spectral X-ray detector and related image processing (including deep learning). Two new key photonic components will be developed: 1) A thin foil based image sensor which has a (semi-) transparent TFT backplane, so that the photodiode array can receive light from both the top and the bottom side. This (semi-) transparency will be optimised, so that the image sensor can collect light effectively from top and bottom scintillator layers at the same time. 2) A 3D printed pixelated CT-like scintillator with high spatial and temporal resolution to enable fast Cone Beam CT imaging without image artefacts. The usability and applicability of the new spectral NEXIS X-ray system for stroke imaging will be clinically validated in a European top hospital. The project brings together a multidisciplinary consortium, involving the full value chain (photonics R&D, medical system integrator, application owner, supply chain and equipment manufacturing). It will allow key players in the European medical photonics industry to generate sales and stay competitive by providing new X-ray imaging modalities and EU based manufacturing. NEXIS will strengthen European competitiveness by developing a spectral Detector-on-Foil technology that meets the needs of the European and global X-ray image detectors market. NEXIS initiate the transition of standard (black&white) to spectral (colour) X-ray detectors, which will improve performance and functionality of X-ray imaging systems."