On 28 July, the European Research Council (ERC) sent out a press release announcing the 55 beneficiaries of funding to exploit the commercial or societal potential of their research results, one of the types of grant of the European Union’s H2020 programme.

Of these 55 projects, six are proposals presented by Spanish centres, one of which was SENSO-eAXON, a proof of concept to develop injectable wireless microsensors based on eAXON technology. Antoni Ivorra, head of the research group in Biomedical Electronics (BERG) from the BCN MedTech Research Unit of the UPF, is the principal investigator for the project.

SENSO-eAXON (Injectable wireless microsensors based on eAXON technology) is one of the projects to be developed thanks to ERC proof of concept funding. The project will be put into practice in UPF’s Department of Information and Communication Technologies (DTIC), starting on 01 November 2020 and running until April 2022.

SENSO-eAXON builds upon the eAXON, project, funded by an ERC Consolidator Grant, in which Antoni Ivorra’s research team is developing a technology consisting of wireless microstimulators designed to rectify bursts of galvanically conducted high-frequency current.

"As well as microstimulator technology, we are creating cutting-edge technology for the development of biophysical data detection systems through minimally invasive implants", Ivorra explains.

The wireless detection technology consists of a very thin implant and an external unit that provides information on physical or chemical values transmitted by the implant. "Unlike previous implantable detection technologies, ours enables the use of implants similar to very thin, flexible wires (diameter <1 mm)", adds Ivorra. This degree of miniaturisation is possible because this technology, unlike others, does not require voluminous components like power sources (batteries or coils, for example).

The goal of the SENSO-eAXON proof of concept is essentially to pave the way towards creating a spin-off company that will develop and validate this technology clinically for a specific clinical need.

Reference project:

SENSO-eAXON: Injectable wireless microsensors based on eAXON technology

Call: ERC Proof of concept. The European Union’s H2020 programme

Principal Investigator: Antoni Ivorra, BERG-BCN MedTech, UPF

18 months, running until April 2022.