ISyPeM: Intelligent Integrated Systems for Personalized Medicine

Thierry Buclin of CHUV/Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, expert in Evidence-based medicine

Giovanni De Micheli of EPFL/LSI, expert in Data analysis. Low power circuit and system design-new concepts for low standby power

Christian Enz of CSEM, expert in wireless sensor networks, very low-power analog IC design and semiconductor device modeling

Carlos-Andrés Pena-Reyes of HES-SO/HEIG-VD/REDS, expert in Embedded systems

Innovations in drug regimens and therapeutic protocols are improving the survival rate and life quality of patients affected by serious, life-threatening conditions. Such treatments often require daily drug administration over long-term periods.  This project aims at providing advanced technologies for:

(i) assessing drug response by measuring drug concentrations and experimental biomarkers
(ii) providing drug treatment indications (to the medical doctor, operator and/or patient) based on processing of statistical and personal data, and
(iii) enabling the seamless monitoring and delivery by integrated, low power, silicon-based systems.

The purpose of the proposed research is to advance the state-of-the-art in personalized medicine by creating new enabling technologies for drug monitoring and delivery rooted in the combination of sensing, in situ data processing, and drug release control mechanisms. We will explore new sensor technologies, hardware and software data processing means and drug release mechanisms based on silicon membranes. These new technologies, in combination with currently available medical devices (e.g., micropumps, microneedles, etc.) can significantly better medical care and reduce the related costs.

Several companies, located in Switzerland are developing drug monitoring and delivery means. Our research goes beyond the state-of-the-art because of the introduction of new sensing and delivering technologies and because of the integration of the hardware platform with novel software data processing and control programs. For these reasons, strong synergies will be developed with the local industries and some companies have expressed interest in a collaboration. Our medical partner at CHUV Hospital will provide us with patient samples, reference analytical methods and experienced advice to develop and validate the new drug monitoring and delivery techniques. Targeted application domains will be: HIV infection, cancer diseases and post transplant therapies.

The overall benefit of this research is bettering medical practice by enabling personalized medicine while reducing health care costs. This goal is achieved by a concerted effort in various disciplines that will be embodied in demonstrators and validated in the field in the framework of the project. We advance the state-of-the-art by providing an electronic-control dimension to drug treatment, based on real-time sensing and on safe and optimal dosing policies. Expected scientific breakthroughs are:

(i) new integrated sensors for specific drugs and biomarkers,
(ii) new drug delivery mechanisms via electronically-controlled silicon membranes and
(iii) a formal design methodology for provably correct and safe electronic drug delivery.

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