Every year, some 650 000 Europeans die from strokes, triggered when the blood supply to a part of the brain is blocked or severely reduced. Multitel, a Belgian research institute, is helping develop an innovative new photonic chip to prevent strokes in an EU-funded research partnership made possible by the Enterprise Europe Network.

With €2.6 million in FP7 funding, the Multitel-led consortium in the P3SENS project is developing a technology that would enable doctors to diagnose and treat stroke early at point of care – instead of waiting for the standard battery of medical tests whose results often come too late.

In putting the group together Multitel turned to the Enterprise Europe Network, whose 3 000 experts in 50 countries help companies put together winning proposals and line up the right partners for European research funding.

For Multitel, attending a conference hosted by German Network branch ZENIT proved pivotal. More than 200 participants seeking FP7 partners attended the March 2009 'Successful R&D in Europe' event in Düsseldorf.

“Each company gets 10 minutes to make a presentation, so it must be an effective sales pitch,” explains Network senior consultant Bernd Janson.

Domenico Giannone, R&D manager at Multitel, was instantly won over by Thomas Goergen of Bayer Technology Services, a Bayer subsidiary which supplies technology solutions to chemical and pharmaceutical firms. Then still in need of an industrial partner, Multitel invited Bayer Technology Services to join the research team.

“The timing was perfect, because we were facing a tight deadline, and Bayer Technology Services had an impressive background in chemistry and materials science,” says Giannone.

Over the next few years, the P3SENS partners will develop a specially designed polymer photonic crystal-based chip to help doctors pinpoint problem areas in the brain within minutes – potentially saving hundreds of thousands of lives.