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What happens when we breathe in nanoparticles emitted by a laser printer, for example? Could these nanoparticles damage the respiratory tract or perhaps even other organs? To answer these questions, Fraunhofer researchers are developing the “NanoCube” exposure device. The Nanocube’s integrated multi-organ chip set up in the laboratory of the Technical University of Berlin (TU Berlin) and by its spin-off organization “TissUse” detects interaction between nanoparticles and lung cells, the uptake of nanoparticles into the bloodstream and possible effects on the liver.

The EU-funded project REMEDi4ALL will make a major leap forward in drug repurposing, or finding new therapeutic options for existing drugs, in areas with high unmet medical needs.

The transport sector is transforming towards climate-friendly powertrains with significantly reduced CO2 emissions. The electrification of powertrains remains a major challenge not only for trucks, buses, trains, and ships but also for aircraft. These applications cannot be realized in the future with batteries because of the energy requirements. The fuel cell is an extremely promising energy supplier for these applications, which supplies electrical energy from stored hydrogen and ambient air.

What happens if Russia completely stops gas supplies to Europe? Fraunhofer IEG, Fraunhofer SCAI, and TU Berlin have analyzed the situation by accurately modeling the entire European gas network. The result: Since it is impossible to rebuild the technical infrastructure so quickly, Germany will have a shortfall of 30 percent of the natural gas volume in the coming winter compared to the previous year. Targeted technical measures could reduce the deficit to 20 percent, provided Europe acts in a coordinated manner.

The AIOLOS project (Artificial Intelligence Tools for Outbreak Detection and Response) has received approval from the French and German governments to develop a digital platform designed to allow for early detection of new respiratory pathogens epidemics, monitor their spread and inform decisions on appropriate counter measures. AIOLOS will provide insights for private and public decision-making in a web-based dashboard, which leverages real-time data from multiple data sources, advanced artificial intelligence (AI), and predictive modeling. Sanofi in France and the Fraunhofer Institutes SCAI and ITMP in Germany lead the consortium, which includes four other French and German partners: CompuGroup Medical, Quinten Health, Impact Healthcare and umlaut, part of Accenture. The project is supported by the French State and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action in the context of the Franco-German call on Artificial Intelligence technologies for risk prevention, crisis management and resilience. This call for projects operated by Bpifrance, on behalf of the French government as part of the France 2030 investment plan, and by DLR Projektträger, aims to support innovation projects between France and Germany on artificial intelligence technologies.

Whether cleaning, stirring, kneading ,or injection processes – MESHFREE can be used to reliably simulate food technology processes. The software product developed by the Fraunhofer Institutes for Industrial Mathematics ITWM and for Algorithms and Scientific Computing SCAI uses grid-free simulations to map physical processes. This year, the institutes will again be represented at Anuga FoodTec from April 26 to 29 in Hall 7.1 at Stand A049.

The CAREPATH project launched on 1st of July 2021, is a European Horizon 2020’s project that proposes an ICT based solution for the optimization of clinical practice in the treatment and management of multimorbid patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) or mild dementia (MD). CAREPATH project solution will target a more complex multimorbidity scenario and follows an integrated patient-centered approach, to develop a flexible and modular system to deliver an optimized care, adapted framework that allow increasing the independence and Quality of Life (QoL) of multimorbid patients with dementia.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Algorithms and Scientific Computing SCAI and the software company Kairntech (Grenoble) have created a knowledge graph for psychiatric disorders, especially psychoses. Knowledge graphs allow unstructured texts to be represented in a structured, comparable format. They visualize cause-and-effect models to help medical professionals make decisions about therapies.

VMAP, an international collaborative ITEA project led by Fraunhofer SCAI, has created a vendor-neutral standard for CAE data storage and transfer to enhance interoperability in virtual engineering workflows, which has already been adopted by a lot of tool providers. The VMAP Standard Community will be established to further disseminate the VMAP Standard and its development. Thanks to these outstanding outcomes, VMAP received the ITEA Award of Excellence for Standardisation today.

The treatment of people who have Parkinson's disease can be improved significantly by using digital techniques. The DIGIPD project explores how artificial intelligence can contribute to a better individualized treatment of the disease, for example, by analysis of sensor data or automatically detected changes in speech, facial expressions, or movements.