CaixaImpulse funds two UB research projects for the diagnosis of sepsis and treatment for Alzheimer’s

Researchers from the Research Group of Instrumentation Systems and Communication (SIC).
Researchers from the Research Group of Instrumentation Systems and Communication (SIC).
Research
(27/07/2017)

The Research Group of Instrumentation Systems and Communication (SIC) of the Faculty of Physics is developed, with the funds from CaixaImpulse program, a point-of-care testing to diagnose sepsis in a quick way. Researchers of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences also received a CaixaImpusle grant to get a new first drug in the typology to help palliate inflammation in the brain, one of the main features associated with Alzheimerʼs disease. Both cases are projects managed by Bosch i Gimpera Foundation.

Researchers from the Research Group of Instrumentation Systems and Communication (SIC).
Researchers from the Research Group of Instrumentation Systems and Communication (SIC).
Research
27/07/2017

The Research Group of Instrumentation Systems and Communication (SIC) of the Faculty of Physics is developed, with the funds from CaixaImpulse program, a point-of-care testing to diagnose sepsis in a quick way. Researchers of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences also received a CaixaImpusle grant to get a new first drug in the typology to help palliate inflammation in the brain, one of the main features associated with Alzheimerʼs disease. Both cases are projects managed by Bosch i Gimpera Foundation.

Regarding the project in SIC, the point of care testing represents the future in detecting diseases that require fast and precise results. In the short term, these technologies will provide a diagnosis inside the ambulance or monitoring a patient in his/her house, with which visits will be reduced to those who are really necessary. In the medical sector, there is a need to find devices to fasten the processes of diagnosis, and those should be ease to use, offering a lot of precision and in addition, portable. These tools can be crucial in illnesses with which a fast diagnosis makes the difference between life and death, like in a heart attack or sepsis, a disease that needs to be detected and treated quick, otherwise it can quickly spread and put the patientʼs life at risk.

SIC will work on a device for the molecular analysis based on the measurements of fluorescence spectroscopy. The device uses the measurements of the fluorescence decay time to make a quick and precise diagnosis. The aim is to get a fast diagnosis without the need of any following treatment and with a low energy consumption, in a phone-shaped mobile solution which offers several solutions according to the patient.

The project from the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences is about fighting a disease which affects around fifty million people worldwide. These figures are expected to double every twenty years due populationʼs ageing. The current treatments can alleviate symptoms but are not enough to stop the progress of the disease. Therefore, there is an urgent need of finding treatments to prevent or at least delay, the appearance of physiopathological damage and the cognitive deterioration generated by Alzheimerʼs.

Each of these projects received one of the 23 grants given by Obra Social la Caixa and Caixa Capital Risc, within the program CaixaImpulse. This program aims to promote, by creating companies or transfer agreements, the translation of scientific knowledge created in the field of biomedical research in research centers or universities -to society. CaixaImpulse has the support from EIT Health.