MORPHEUS joins the Graphene Flagship fleet

Coordinated by the Polytechnic University of Turin, the MORPHEUS project consolidates a research path initiated with the ERC projects JANUS BI and HYSENS on the development of two-dimensional materials, advanced sensors and flexible electronics for innovative healthcare applications.

The Polytechnic University of Turin, and in particular Teresa Gatti, professor at the Department of Applied Science and Technology (DISAT), will coordinate a partnership of 14 organisations and associations to implement the MORPHEUS - MOdular Reconfigurable Platform for Health and Environmental Universal Sensing project. The goal of MORPHEUS is to develop a wearable patch capable of integrating various sensors that, in the future, could enable continuous monitoring of physiological and biochemical parameters, such as blood pressure, temperature, glucose and cortisol, in hospitalised patients.

MORPHEUS was developed in response to the European call for Innovative Advanced Materials (IAMs) for conformable, flexible or stretchable electronics and as part of the European partnership Innovative Advanced Materials for Europe (IAM4EU). The call called for the development of innovative advanced materials, including 2D materials, with improved properties in terms of flexibility, adaptability and elasticity. These materials could enable new applications in flexible electronics, i.e., bendable and conformable electronic devices designed to adapt to non-rigid surfaces, such as the human body.

Compared to traditional materials, 2D materials are extremely thin and stretch in two dimensions (length and width). This results in unique properties, such as high mechanical strength and high thermal and electrical conductivity, making them particularly versatile. These types of materials were at the heart of the JANUS BI project (All-liquid phase JANUS BIdimensional materials for functional nano-architectures and assemblies), coordinated by Professor Gatti and supported by a starting grant from the European Research Council (ERC) and the related Proof of Concept project HYSENS - HYbrid hydrogels based on 2D materials and conducting polymers for piezoresistive SENSing, which had already led to the development of advanced sensors for this type of application.

MORPHEUS includes in its partnership the innovative startup Dropper, an expert in IoT devices and wearable electronics, which is incubated at I3P, the Innovative Business Incubator of the Polytechnic University of Turin. The research group will also be able to benefit from the experience and technological consultancy of STMicroelectronics, a leading company in the semiconductor electronic components sector that has collaborated with the University for years through a strategic partnership agreement and joint laboratories hosted at the Cittadella Politecnica at the Polytechnic University of Turin.

Although clinical application in the hospital setting still requires further development, MORPHEUS will also address aspects related to the biocompatibility of the materials used, thanks to the contribution of a partner specialised in developing pre-certifications for the non-cytotoxicity of the developed objects to the skin.

The presence of a Greek hospital in the consortium will allow research to be focused on the real needs of end users and will allow for the development of a roadmap for the future standardisation of this new generation of wearable devices.

The vision opened by MORPHEUS is to develop high-performance wearable devices for continuous patient monitoring, capable of improving well-being and the quality of care in the future, while ensuring constant and highly precise measurement of important vital signs. This development could foster the spread of personalised medicine and, at the same time, contribute to making hospital services more efficient and sustainable, reducing hospital costs and improving the services offered.

"MORPHEUS was born with the ambition of transforming the way we monitor patient health, enabling continuous, precise and non-invasive measurement of physiological parameters. The integration of innovative materials and flexible electronics opens up new possibilities for increasingly personalised and efficient medicine. The strength of this project lies in the highly interdisciplinary and international nature of the consortium, which allows us to address complex challenges in an integrated manner, from advanced materials to clinical validation. This approach is essential for translating scientific results into technologies that can truly be transferred to the healthcare system,” states Professor Teresa Gatti of the Polytechnic University of Turin.

The consortium that will implement the MORPHEUS project is composed of:

• Polytechnic University of Turin, Italy
• Technical University of Chemnitz, Germany
• DROPPER SRL, Italy
• Nova ID FCT - Association for Innovation and Development of FCT, Portugal
• Technical University of Dresden, Germany
• Bursa Technical University, Turkey
• Standardization Association of Romania, Romania
• University of Granada, Spain
• INNOVA SRL, Italy
• Shades of Blue SRL, Italy – Affiliated Institution
• Free University of Bolzano, Italy
• Aristotelio Panepistimio Thessalonikis, Greece
• NGRAFI NANO TEKNOLOGJI ANONIM SIRKETI, Turkey
• University of Padua