Objective
Organoids and cancer spheroids are revolutionizing biomedical research. Derived from stem cells, organoids mimic the complexity of organs, provide in vitro systems for human disease modelling, tissue engineering and drug testing, paving the way towards personalized medicine.
SOFT will create an entirely novel non-contact and non-invasive acoustofluidic tool to address open questions and limitations in organoid research. The general idea is inspired by breakthroughs in quantitative methods for holographic optical tweezers. As we have already shown, standing MHz acoustic wave configurations enable optical tomography by rotating the levitated micro-sample into many directions. SOFT will go beyond this and create a FORCE tomogram in the microfluidic chamber by applying structured ultrasound transducer elements acting as emitters and/or sensors of acoustic waves. An inverse problem will be formulated and solved, simultaneously inferring the 3D force field and the sample properties from pressure patterns measured on the micro-fluidic chamber walls.
Acoustic forces lead to controllable strain on the sample. The 3D force map together with the 3D deformation map created by optical tomography will provide the means to reconstruct a spatially resolved ‘stress-strain-diagram’ of the sample. This will, for the first time, allow one to assess and correlate local optical (morphological) and mechanical (functional) properties of the sample, providing a new enabling tool for mechanobiological investigations.
SOFT will study the blood vessel network of organoids. The organ-specific morphology and functionality of vascularization in 3D is of utmost importance, since its dysfunctionality limits organoids to small size. The unique combination of dual optical/acoustical tomographic information, requiring Optics as well as Acoustics expertise, that SOFT provides will enable deep insights into organoid vascular health and development.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2025-ADG
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6020 Innsbruck
Austria
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