HEMOSPEC · Advanced spectroscopic hemogram for personalized care against live threatening infections using an integrated chip-assisted bio-photonic system

Life threatening infectious diseases and sepsis are worldwide problems with high mortalities. In order to select optimal treatments for the highly heterogeneous group of sepsis patients and to reduce costs, novel multiplexed tools that better characterize the patient and its specific immune response are highly desired.In the novel project HemoSpec" a multidisciplinary team develops - driven by the demands of the two clinical partners - a highly innovative technological platform for early, fast and reliable medical diagnosis of infectious diseases using only minimal amounts of patient's blood. HemoSpec combines in one device three key enabling technologies: automated microfluidic sample handling with integrated holographic blood count, simultaneous multiplex fluorescence biomarker sensing and detailed Raman spectroscopic leukocyte characterization. In each of the technologies experts in the consortium can build on previous knowledge and will improve system characteristics for higher performance and functionality. Strong focus will be on the miniaturization, optimization as well as on the integration of the individual parts. One common user interface, common data storage and analysis software will make the dense information from HemoSpec available to the clinical enduser in a single working step. The integrated multiplex analysis of HemoSpec will be validated in two clinics in two countries specialized on hospital-acquired and community-acquired sepsis, respectively.Strong industrial participation (four companies from four different countries) spanning the portfolio from biomarker supply to spectrometer companies up to software integrators assures ultimate exploitation of the innovative developments and the final device on the market leading to enhanced European market leadership in the field of medical diagnosis. Ultimately, this can help to administer the right therapy to the right patient at the right time reducing the costs in the health care sector."