Bone and joint disorders are highly prevalent and engender high socio-economic costs. Their development involves changes in bone anatomy, bone tissue structural quality and blood flow inside bone. Today, these changes are partly diagnosed with x-ray, magnetic resonance or nuclear imaging, which are pricy or ionizing technologies. Our team recently unlocked ultrasound imaging inside bones. This project aims to establish the commercial viability of a company based on this new ultrasound technology. With this safe, portable and affordable technology, we wish to improve patient comfort, as well as the efficiency and quality of the management of bone and joint diseases.

Investigating materials at the highest possible resolution with electron microscopy is crucial for understanding diseases and for quality control in manufacturing computer chips. At present, electron microscopes image samples with only one beam, which makes them too slow to image samples larger than about 1 mm. The researchers will implement several innovations to make an electron microscope that can illuminate samples with many beams in parallel and that is also very sensitive to signals generated specifically by defects in the materials.

Background: Cancer is first-leading cause of adult deaths. Radiation therapy based on x-rays cure approximately 50% of all cancer patients and is a fundamental pillar in cancer treatment. But, collateral damage of healthy surrounding tissues is unavoidable. Proton beams differ from x-rays by the fact that their penetration depth is sharply determined and release their energy at the Bragg peak. The problem: In proton beam therapy the dosimetry is determined by simulations of the proton deposition in the tissue. However, organ movement and errors in the assumed material properties lead to inaccuracy of the deposition. The Solution: We propose a non-invasive, in-situ, real-time localization system for proton therapy monitoring using ultrasound contrast agents and highly sensitive optical-acoustical receivers. Our concept consists of two innovative steps. The first step is the interaction of the proton beam with a medical ultrasound contrast agent consisting of coated microbubbles. The energy deposition from individual protons in the Bragg peak creates a broadband excitation in the vicinity of the bubble forcing them to vibrate at their resonance frequency (1-10 MHz). This creates a low amplitude pressure wave that can be used for localization and dose measurement of the proton beam. The second step entails the development of an array of ultra-sensitive acousto-optical ultrasound sensors for detecting the acoustic pressure waves generated by the microbubbles, which is one order of magnitude below the detection limit of current state-of-the-art ultrasonic sensors. Acousto-optical sensors consist of a silicon chip with an extremely thin membrane that will already be deflected by very small acoustic pressure amplitudes. This deflection will be detected by a micro-optical circuit that is integrated on the membrane. Using the microbubbles and these highly sensitive receivers allows for a real-time monitoring of the proton deposition with a spatial resolution better than 1 mm.

Electrical pulses traveling along the membrane of neurons carry information in our nervous system. Being able to visualize these electrical signals would provide into exact way neural computations influence what we do, think, feel and experience. I propose new type of protein sensor to achieve this visualization. In the project we will test a newly discovered protein for voltage sensitivity, speed and spectral characteristics and try to understand if and how we need to change it to make it into a voltage sensor that can show us brain dynamics.

Oral cancer is a highly aggressive disease with a 5-year survival rate of less than 50%. After tumour removal, patients are referred for personalised follow-up treatments (e.g., radiotherapy) based on the prognosis of the resected tumour. This project aims to improve oral cancer prognosis using a novel computational microscopy technique. By mapping interwoven tissue structures in and around the tumour, we study the role of collagen fibre directionality (a recently recognised, promising cancer biomarker) and invasion patterns. If proven useful, our technique can be used to provide more personalised prognoses, ultimately leading to better treatment plans and improved patient survival.