Research Projects

ARC Hub for HealthTech BioPressure Photonics Sensor Project-Now Recruiting

Secured prestigious funding under the €34 million ARC Hub for HealthTech, for project BioPressure, focusing on developing a cutting-edge pressure monitoring system to prevent fluid overload conditions such as edema or hypervolemia that indicate onset of heart failure. By leveraging advanced photonic polymer technologies in waveguide and optical fibres, the project aims to create a micropatch sensor capable of monitoring interstitial fluid pressure with precision. BioPressure aligns seamlessly with the ARC Hub’s mission to accelerate the development of smart implants, wearable medical devices, and novel sensors for chronic disease management. The project is further strengthened by a stellar interdisciplinary team, including Dr. Lorraine McGrath-Soo of Saolta University Health Care Group and Professor Faisal Sharif, Clinical Director of BioInnovate. This collaboration underscores the ARC Hub’s commitment to fast-tracking research breakthroughs into impactful healthcare solutions.

We are now hiring two researchers to work on this project. Check out the link below. 

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/patriciascully1_research-projects-activity-7363906193120976896-biyV?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAHUsRoB-FQnEv7mNDaedF-LcdzO6XNKGbw

Read more about ARC-HUB here.

TidalHealth: Structural Health Monitoring and analysis of Tidal Turbine Blades, in collaboration with SMEs Eirecomposites and ORPC.

Co-investigator in SEAI National Energy Research, Development & Demonstration Funding Programme Call 2024. TidalHealth – Structural Health Monitoring and analysis of Tidal Turbine Blades, in collaboration with SMEs Eirecomposites and ORPC. Providing expertise in optical fibre sensors and photonic sensor instrumentation and data analysis.

The TidalHealth project is developing an optical fibre-based monitoring system for tidal turbine foils, using distributed sensing for continuous data along the fibre and quasi-distributed systems with point sensors at critical locations to detect damage and failures.

This project has been supported with financial contribution from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland under the SEAI Research, Development & Demonstration Funding Programme 2024, Grant number 24/RDD/01098

See https://www.eirecomposites.com/project/tidalhealth/  for further details. 

ENLIGHT Network: CARDIOPTIC - CARDIOvascular OPTICal Sensing. University of Galway ENLIGHT Research Networks 2024

Patricia Scully from SNS-Physics has been awarded €80K to set up a multidisciplinary ENLIGHT network: CARDIOPTIC, focusing on  CARDIOvascular OPTICal Sensing using polymer photonics. This project is collaboration with Dr Adnan Elahi of the Translational Medicine Laboratory, Josh Bhathal Early Career Researcher and former BioInnovate Fellow and Prof William Wijns, SFI Professor of Interventional Cardiology, Smart Sensors Laboratory, in the School of Medicine, and with international experts in polymer photonics located in four ENLIGHT universities.

We’re investigating implantable Cardiac sensors using biocompatible polymers, and functional sensing materials to detect clinical measurands and biomarkers. We will use photonic and optical sensing principles. We’ll use the funds to secure at least two large Horizon Europe grants, and establish durable partnerships to generate MedTech projects and networks managed by our Project Manager, Dr Kreema James who provides valuable Cardiovascular Research and Medtech Start-Up experience 

Our partners include University of the Basque Country in Bilboa, Spain, University of Bordeaux in France and Ghent University in Belgium, who provide cutting-edge scientific expertise in photonics, including new materials and commercialisation strategies, applied to Medtech devices.

SFI Frontiers for the Future Project “Laser Functionalisation of Flexible Polymer-Carbon Composites for Medical Sensing.” 

Funded by Science Foundation Ireland’s Frontiers for the Future.
Principal Investigator: Dr Patricia Scully.

Using Ultrafast lasers and adaptive optics to create 3D structured porous carbon nano-materials, with conducting, sensing and membrane properties, for applications in medtech sensors, batteries, charge storage and energy harvesting.

New carbons, such as graphene, create novel electronics at an ultra-compact scale, replacing metals, silicon and semiconductors, but are disadvantaged by complex and toxic manufacturing methods, requiring process liquids/gases, clean rooms and controlled atmospheres.
This project creates flexible polymers, for sensing spatial variations in temperature, moisture and strain for smart polymer skins or smart dressings are required for wound healing, or contaminated or damaged surfaces in structural health monitoring.
We are developing a single step direct laser writing (DLW) process to structure the solid carbon material in 3D to tune the composite conductivity, functionalization and sensitivity to strain, temperature and moisture. It is a type of Laser Induced Graphene using an ultrafast laser to control pulselength, rep rate and optical beam profiling. 

Project Aurora - The next generation remote heart failure monitoring device

Collaborator for CF-2023-2186-I: Project Aurora - The next generation remote heart failure monitoring device    Commercialisation Fund Programme. 01/08/2024. PI Dr Adnan Elahi. Providing expertise in optical and photonic sensor technologies for medtech, applied to cardiovascular disease.   

Funded Investigator in I-Form Phase 2 world-leading SFI Research Centre for Advanced Manufacturing

PJS is a Funded Investigator in I-Form_Phase 2    21/RC/10295_P2  with skills/track record and interests in Advanced Manufacturing, Laser Processing, Materials Characterisation, Materials Structure-Property Analysis, Nanotechnology, Process Optimisation, Sensor Development, Surface Engineering, Sustainable Manufacturing

https://www.i-form.ie/

I-Form brings together a nationwide pool of expertise in materials science, engineering, data analytics and cognitive computing. I-Form is actively engaged across a range of different materials processing technologies, with a particular focus on Additive Manufacturing (3D printing).

Funded Investigator in CÚRAM national research centre for clinic-ready and patient focused medical devices to improve quality of life for patients living with chronic diseases.

https://curamdevices.ie/research/

CÚRAM specialises in pioneering research across key areas such as biomaterials, drug delivery systems, tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, and medical device design. By collaborating with leading experts and leveraging cutting-edge technology, CÚRAM is dedicated to addressing the complex challenges of chronic health conditions. Our ultimate goal is to translate innovative research into affordable, transformative medical solutions that improve patient outcomes and quality of life worldwide.

Patricia Scully specialises in smart materials for sensors and instrumentation applied to healthcare and process technologies, using photonic and laser technologies to generate new materials and devices. are configured in systems to extract signals and data using artificial intelligence, such as sensor fusion and machine/deep learning. Applications include sensors for monitoring human motion and cardiovascular function and chemical sensing of biomarkers.

EPSRC Prosperity Partnership: EP/R00482X/1. Centre in Advanced Fluid Engineering for Digital Manufacturing (CAFE4DM). https://www.cafe4dm.manchester.ac.uk/

This 5 year project addressed challenges in understanding, creating and scaling up manufacturing processes for formulated products in home/personal care and food products). Methodologies developed  enabled a detailed understanding of liquid behaviour in process conditions to facilitate decision making and accelerate introduction of new, innovative products to the market. 

A major outcome is a demonstrator of the Industry 4.0 concept which will enable smart factories to be realised in the process sector.

• Addressing challenges in understanding, creating and scaling up manufacturing processes for formulated products in fast moving consumer goods (home/personal care and food products).
• Develop a new modelling approach and the associated materials, measurement and validation to describe these mixtures to enable a significant reduction in conventional physical experimentation.
• Hence accelerate the route from the laboratory to the market place through the increased efficiency of product and process identification and, therefore, a reduction in cost and minimisation of waste.

£3.836M  with matched funding from UoM (£757K) and Unilever (£2.373M) and in-kind support provided by Process Systems Enterprise Ltd ( £305K)  and Unilever (£500K). Suite of in-line techniques to enable the rapid development and manufacture of new formulated products. WP3.3

https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FR00482X%2F1

iRehabAngel: a remote rehabilitation device suitable for individuals with arthritis (rheumatoid and osteoarthritis)

iRehabAngel: a remote rehabilitation device suitable for individuals with arthritis (rheumatoid and osteoarthritis).It incorporates  remote monitoring electronic technology to provide continuous and long term monitoring. This project embedded a cushioned footboard with integrated electronics to form an inexpensive, easy to use, modular intelligent device providing objective measurements of clinical indicators, to monitor effectiveness of exercise regimes prior to/post therapist appointments. The remote RehabAngel will be able to monitor the patient’s pathomechanics, balance and movement to measure and integrate indicators of deterioration to alert health care professionals to a problem prior to an acute episode. Funded by Arthritis Research UK and Manchester Academic Health Science Centre (AHSC).