Revolutionizing disease and environmental detection with portable optoacoustic sensing

The RSENSE project aims at revolutionizing optical sensing with broad impacts on society, by changing the paradigm in portable sensing for early detection in healthcare and on-board automotive and environmental sensing. We will support the use of a novel, revolutionary portable optoacoustic (sPROPT) technology for sensing applications in the healthcare, environmental and automotive sectors. RSENSE is driven by advanced portable optoacoustics (PROPT), developed and offered for the first time as a revolutionary biomedical and automotive sensor collecting unprecedented high-impact information unavailable to other technologies. Today’s optical sensing, including spectroscopy or imaging, is compromised when used in scattering media due to photon diffusion. In contrast to established optical sensors, the novel technology sPROPT can collect information like no other technology can, thanks to extraordinary improvements in the laser diode and optoacoustic detection technology. Its sensitivity is unique, and it reduces the cost of the sensor. In detail, RSENSE will provide a high sensitivity, low-cost, portable sensor with so far unavailable features, suitable for a wide spectrum of applications with superior performance over the current state of the art. These features can play a transformative role in early detection of cardio-metabolic diseases and are urgently needed in environmental applications, e.g monitoring emissions. The project will bring a paradigm shift and be a landmark with a diverse application portfolios in health and environment.

The aim of RSENSE is to address major technology gaps to enable analyzing of time domain and frequency domain signals. Our high-sensitivity, portable sensor will enable us to monitor diseases and environmental emissions. since the start of the project, RSENSE has made significant progress in the design of individual components for the new technology (WP2), including improvement of miniaturized transducers in terms of sensitivity and artefact reduction, different light sources and wavelength and other optics components. These great progresses have allowed to assemble working versions of the two sensors (medical and environmental) and initiate tests in laboratory and real-world environment. In parallel to the development of teh sensors and their applications, great progresses on the developemtn of data analysis tools and algorithms have been made. The RSENSE consortium has proactively communicated abou the life of the project via its website (new version released in early 2022) and social media (LinkedIn and Twitter), with the aim to maximize the visibility of the project and the information of stakeholders. RSENSE project and progresses have been published in 4 peer-reviewed publications and 2 preprints, and presented at several conferences.

RSENSE goes well beyond the state-of-the-art of current sensing by a new class of sensors that merge 1) advanced data analytics (deterministic & machine-learning) that can integrate also other information (-omics, other clinical data) with 2) an unique biological, metabolic (and environmental) parameters measured, not available to any other non-invasive sensor today, and the potential to offer 3) quantitative assessment of disease and environmental parameters using a simple single-point, non-invasive 1 second measurement.
Features of the new technology will play a transformative role in early detection of cardio-metabolic diseases and are urgently needed in environmental applications. Moreover, accurate phenotypic measurements are of high importance for epidemiology and large scale genomic analyses. Successful completion of RSENSE will cumulate in ground-breaking new detection abilities in automotive, environmental and medical applications. Supported by experienced partners in research and exploitation, RSENSE initiates an innovation ecosystem with European leadership.