Imagine trying to find and remove a tiny seed in a large field, but the seed is invisible to the naked eye. This technology uses special gold particles that stick to cancer and a high-tech camera to light them up. Once found, a laser heats those particles to burn away the cancer without harming the surrounding area.
Current surgical and therapeutic methods fail to detect and treat bladder tumors smaller than 1 mm, leading to high relapse rates. This inefficiency contributes to a $10 billion annual healthcare burden.
A theranostic system comprising an add-on photoacoustic imaging module, AI-driven prediction software, and GMP-compliant targeted gold nanorods.
If you are an endoscopy equipment manufacturer dealing with the limitation of current cystoscopes that cannot see tumors < 1 mm — this project developed an add-on imaging module and AI map that enables the detection and treatment of these invisible lesions.
If you are a pharmaceutical producer dealing with the difficulty of creating stable, clinical-grade nanoparticles — this project developed a large-scale synthesis process for urine-stable gold nanorods produced under GMP standards.
If you are a software developer dealing with the lack of precision in guided thermal therapies — this project developed an AI-assisted prediction map that guides the eradication of chemoresistant neoplastic lesions.
Based on available project data, the solution aims to reduce the social cost of bladder cancer management, which is currently estimated at $10 billion per year.
Yes, the consortium has started activities for industrial production, assessing critical steps for scale-up and identifying GMP regulatory requirements.
A patent regarding the targeted gold nanorods (KER2) was filed on March 28, 2024, and business models for KER1 and KER2 have been identified.
The project is specifically identifying regulatory requirements to ensure production follows Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP).
The project runs from September 2023 to August 2026, moving the technology from TRL 4 to TRL 6.
The consortium is highly industry-weighted with an 80% industry ratio, consisting of 4 industrial partners (including 2 SMEs) and 1 university across 4 countries (BE, IT, NL, UK). This structure suggests a strong focus on commercialization and manufacturing rather than pure academic research, led by Ospedale San Raffaele SRL.
Contact Ospedale San Raffaele SRL in Italy
Contact us to explore licensing opportunities for the KER1 and KER2 technologies.
