Imagine trying to take a photo of a tiny virus, but the only cameras capable of it are the size of a city block and located in just a few places in Europe. This project is building a compact, desk-sized version of that giant machine. It uses a powerful laser to create a tiny, intense X-ray beam that can see through biological samples without destroying them.
Imaging single viruses currently requires access to a few massive, specialized synchrotron centers in Europe. This creates a bottleneck for hospitals and drug developers who need rapid, non-destructive structural analysis of viruses to create treatments.
A tabletop X-ray microscope system including a high-average-power laser, a nano-source of hard X-rays, and ML-enhanced image reconstruction software.
If you are a drug developer dealing with the slow process of identifying viral protein structures — this project developed a tabletop X-ray microscope that allows for in-situ, non-destructive imaging of single viruses. This enables faster design of antiviral treatments without needing access to a synchrotron.
If you are a hospital lab dealing with the inability to image viruses on-site — this project developed a compact X-ray nano-source that brings synchrotron-level power to a tabletop setup. This allows for immediate characterization of infectious diseases within the clinical environment.
If you are a component manufacturer dealing with materials that degrade under high-power beams — this project developed High-Damage-Threshold Coatings via NANEO to support MHz repetition rates. This technology ensures hardware survives the 3 kW average power required for nanoscale imaging.
Based on available project data, the specific commercial price is not listed, though the EU research contribution for development is EUR 3,723,551.
The project aims to move from specialized centers to a 'tabletop' format, suggesting a significant shift toward industrial and clinical scalability.
Based on available project data, the IP is managed by a consortium of 8 partners, including 4 industry players and 2 SMEs, but specific licensing terms are not provided.
The system is being developed for MHz-rate data acquisition, which indicates high-speed imaging capabilities.
It is designed as a tabletop microscope, meaning it is intended to fit into standard laboratory spaces rather than requiring a dedicated radiation facility like a synchrotron.
The consortium is highly balanced for commercialization, featuring an industry ratio of 50% with 4 industrial partners, including 2 SMEs. With 8 partners across 6 countries, the group combines academic research (2 universities, 2 research centers) with specialized industrial capabilities in laser coatings and sensors, reducing the gap between lab discovery and market product.
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