New EU-funded Project Tackling Deep Vein Thrombosis Detection
ALEXANDROUPOLI, GREECE – 2024
In a groundbreaking initiative, the ThrombUS+ Horizon EU project was officially launched early this year, supported by a substantial 9.5M€ fund from Horizon Europe Innovation Action.
Eighteen partners from Europe and the United States met to kickstart the ThrombUS+ project, tasked with the development of an innovative wearable diagnostic device for point-of-care, operator-free, continuous monitoring of deep vein thrombosis (DVT).
The project is being led by Prof. Eleni Kaldoudi of the Athena Research Center and has partners from Greece, Lithuania, France, Germany, the USA, Italy, Finland, and Spain.
The challenges in creating a wearable solution for DVT diagnosis and prevention are numerous. ThrombUS+ tackles these challenges head-on, not only from a technological standpoint but also by navigating the complex regulatory landscape for AI-based medical devices.
Prof. Kaldoudi.
The interdisciplinary and international setup of the consortium, in addition to the intensive collaboration entailed in the project, will play a critical role in its success.
Another strength of the consortium lies in its application of a “Compliance-by-Design” approach, which integrates legal, regulatory, safety and security requirements for complex medical devices as early as possible in the development process, thus shortening the innovation’s path to patients. As a result of the clinical, technical and regulatory experience gained in the ThrombUS+ project, new opportunities for market access for future complex AI-based medical devices will be created.
Addressing a Critical Health Risk
DVT involves the formation of blood clots in deep veins and poses a significant health risk, with potentially life-threatening consequences when left undetected.
Alarmingly, a significant portion (up to two-thirds) of DVT cases present no symptoms, making early diagnosis a significant challenge.
The ThrombUS+ project seeks to bridge this gap by providing a user-friendly and accessible personal solution.
Technological Breakthrough
The ThrombUS+ project plans a wearable ultrasound probe for continuous lower limb vascular imaging, including innovation on the tissue compression actuator required to realize compression imaging for DVT detection.
ThrombUS+ stands at the forefront of a revolution in medical diagnostics and ultrasound imaging.
The project paves the way towards the new era of disruptive diagnostics where artificial intelligence and ultraportable or even wearable technology promise to alleviate the burden on practitioners and transition diagnostics into continuous and autonomous point-of-care services.
Project Timeline and Activities
Scheduled to run for 42 months, concluding in June 2027, the ThrombUS+ project will leverage big data sets collected through three large-scale clinical studies for artificial intelligence training.
Validation will be carried out in clinical settings through one early feasibility study and one multi-center clinical trial.
Consortium
1) Athena Research Center, Greece
2) Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania
3) Vermon SA, France
4) Fraunhofer IPMS, Germany
5) Telemed Ultrasound Medical Systems, Lithuania
6) EchoNous, USA
7) medis Medizinische Messtechnik GmbH, Germany
8) ComfTech srl, Italy
9) Tampere University, Finland
10) Lietuvos sveikatos mokslų universitetas (LSMU), Lithuania
11) Papageorgiou General Hospital, Greece
12) Fondazione Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, Italy
13) Hôpital Simone Veil – Groupement hospitalier Eaubonne-Montmorency, France
14) VDE, Germany
15) Medea Project, Italy
16) Phaze Clinical Research & Pharma Consulting S.A., Greece
17) PredictBy, Spain
18) SciGen Technologies, SA., Greece
About ThrombUS+
For more information, including updates on the project’s progress, please visit thrombus.eu.
Media Contact:
Katerina Pavlidi
katerina.pavlidi@scigentech.com
Project Contact:
Eleni Kaldoudi
kaldoudi@athenarc.gr