Excellence

An EU-wide cross-sectoral, multi-layered, multi-centered and multi-disciplinary research for the early diagnosis, monitoring, treating and managing osteoarthritis (OA) outcomes is planned. Translation from new diagnostics to treatment strategies are prioritized. Current diagnostics in arthritis heavily rely on patient history, physical examination and semi-quantitative imaging. Safe, effective, patient-centered innovations are therefore needed for the aging European society for increasing the quality of life. Motion analysis, which contains a marker less innovation running on artificial intelligence (AI), has recently moved out from sophisticated laboratories to the field. It is a patient-centered and cost-effective technology that quantifies joint angulations, acceleration and deceleration during motion and balance for the prevention, diagnosis and management of treatment in OA. Integrating this health innovation into the daily life of OA patients will improve decision making for early diagnosis and treatment management. End-users, who are the OA patients in various geographical areas can benefit from this technology.

Multi-omics aids the discovery of new molecules and their mechanism of action in inflammation, degeneration and regeneration. This technology basically helps the determination of geno-, pheno- and endo-types of OA with limitations. In OA, most of the molecular activity including catabolism, anabolism and metabolism happens in the synovial joint fluid (SJF). A fraction of these metabolites enters into the blood stream. Evaluating in example metabolites of the SJF and blood may therefore help the better understanding the natural course and response to treatment in OA. Translating this molecular information into biosensors for the early diagnosis, stage of the disease and outcomes of treatments can add value to the field.

Biosensors that will be developed on the information generated from the multi-omics outcomes will be clinically tested for the tracking of the natural course of the disease and response to treatments.

Symptomatic treatment and surgery are leading approaches in current OA practice. Symptoms may however recure and surgery comes with its limitations. Regenerative methods such as cell-based therapies are recently emerging. There is therefore a need for new therapeutic options in OA. Nucleic acids, cellular and regenerative interventions will be explored together with patient societies and medical professionals who will collaborate to create sustainable treatments under the scope of this project proposal. Delivery of therapeutics into the sub-dermal blood circulation by micro-needles is an emerging technology that will be integrated into this project.