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Health - Enabling technologies for health at all stages of life


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Human and animal health and the environment are inextricably linked. CEA is developing enabling technologies to support an integrated approach that spans diagnostics, therapeutics, prevention, and monitoring.​



Published on 27 July 2023

HEALTH

We can bring proven sensors, lens-free imagers, biomaterials, microneedles, and microfluidics technologies to future products like wearables, implants, tools for pharmaceutical and biotech research and production, and exposome monitoring solutions.

For diagnostics and therapeutics, our R&D capabilities go right up to clinical trials with the Clinatec biomedical research center in conjunction with Grenoble Alpes University Medical Center.

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Integration of heterogeneous technologies into innovative systems

CEA leverages a wide portfolio of advanced sensors and transducers (PPG, GSR, bioimpedance, PMUT, OLED, and electrochemical) that can be integrated with the associated electronics and signal processing capabilities to measure multiple heterogeneous parameters simultaneously and extract relevant physiological information. Some examples of innovative devices:

• Optical and ultrasound measurements to monitor blood pressure continuously with no arm cuff
• Bioimpedance measurements to track body composition parameters like fat mass and hydration
• Innovative combinations of electrical and optical measurements to calculate mental states

CEA technologies are developed based ​on processes already in use in volume-manufacturing scenarios for innovative solutions that are easy to scale up.

Another example of solution is our microneedle technology based on absorbable polymers. We can fabricate microneedles on-demand for specific use cases like:

• Dissolving microneedle patches for timed-release drug delivery or painless vaccination

• Microneedle patches combined with sensors to measure interstitial fluid for diagnostic and monitoring purposes

Our microfluidic chips can be cointegrated with other devices like sensors and lensless imagers, for example, to monitor the functionality and viability of organoids-on-chip
encapsulated within the chip and designed to replicate the in vivo functioning of specific human cells to:
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• Speed up biotech and pharmaceutical discovery and development by anticipating safety and efficacy in humans, by screening multiple candidates on a single chip rather than on cells in traditional culture or on animals
• Personalize medical treatments for specific cases by testing a cancer treatment on a chip that replicates an individual patient’s tumor, for example, before administering the most relevant treatment


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​​​“Our sensors, lens-free imag​​​​​​ers, biomaterials, microneedles, and microfluidic circuits are making new diagnostic, therapeutic, and monitoring solutions possible.”
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                                      Olivier Fuchs, Health Technologies Partnerships Manager CEA
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Top page

Success stories ​Screenshot 2023-07-05 102203.jpg

Diabeloop’s implantable blood sugar monitor with integrated insulin pump​

This medical device is already helping people with diabetes around the world. The closedloop system with an embedded algorithm co-developed by CEA helps patients and caregivers manage treatment more efficiently.

Exposome monitoring in factories, cities, and more

Direct Analysis is detecting pathogens and allergens in food manufacturing plants and Apix Analytics is monitoring urban air quality. A new project will result in an in-room monitoring unit, already proven on SARS CoV-2, that can detect pathogens in the air.

M​edical wearables and implants for treatment and monitoring​

Urgotech is commercializing an EEG headset for in-home sleep improvement. The FollowKnee instrumented knee implant is reducing complications after knee replacement surgery. The NIR project is using light to stop Parkinson’s disease. The BCI (Brain-Computer Interface) project is developing a thought-controlled exoskeleton to get patients with spinal-cord injuries walking.​