Research Ireland Centre for Advanced Materials and BioEngineering Research
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Scientists from AMBER the Research Ireland Centre for Advanced Materials and BioEngineering Research based in Trinity College Dublin have received €2.5 Million in funding via the European Innovation Council (EIC) Transition Call for the project ‘SMARTHEAL’.
The SMARTHEAL team aims to innovate postoperative care for colorectal cancer patients, by developing a novel implant that could significantly improve patient care in the healing period after surgery.
Associate Professor in Chemistry Larisa Florea leads the SMARTHEAL Project with Bruce Murphy Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical, Manufacturing and Biomedical Engineering collaborating along with colleagues in Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Amsterdam UMC and Plio Surgical.
This March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. Colorectal cancer affects over 1.93 million people worldwide each year and is a common cancer in Ireland with approximately 2,500 people diagnosed each year. The bowel is part of the digestive system, made up of the small bowel (small intestine) and the large bowel. The large bowel is made up of the colon and rectum. In most cases colorectal cancer, surgery to remove the tumour is necessary, and intestinal continuity is restored through an anastomosis, a surgical connection made when part of the bowel has been bypassed or removed.
However, a serious complication, known as an anastomotic leak, occurs in up to 20% of these procedures. This complication is associated with high mortality rates, frequent repeat surgeries, prolonged hospital stays, increased healthcare costs, and a reduced quality of life. Despite decades of research, the incidence of anastomotic leaks remains high, largely due to poor healing.
SMARTHEAL represents a groundbreaking advancement, being the first implant to simultaneously enhance healing and enable early leak detection. This innovative implant will offer both healing and sensing capabilities. This innovation has the potential to significantly improve surgical outcomes and reduce healthcare costs globally.
SMARTHEAL is coordinated by AMBER’s Professor Larisa Florea, of the School of Chemistry, Trinity College Dublin (TCD) and builds on her previous work on sensing technologies and micro-fabrication. “This project is a unique opportunity to apply my research in real-world applications and showcases how fundamental research plays an important role in the realisation of innovative medical devices. This project would not have been possible without the participation of an award-winning SME, Plio Surgical, spun out in 2024 from Prof. Bruce Murphy’s lab, here in TCD. The magnetic implant already demonstrated by Plio Surgical represents an ideal platform for integration of innovative electronics, materials and sensors as developed from previously funded EIC Pathfinder/FET-OPEN projects. What a fantastic opportunity to transform fundamental research into marketable products,” says Prof. Florea.
Prof. Bruce Murphy, Innovation Manager of the SMARTHEAL project and Chief Scientific Officer at Plio Surgical adds: “This EIC collaborative project has the potential to greatly enhance patient care in the GI anastomosis space. The integration of a novel implant and novel technology may allow enhanced understanding of healing in the GI tract which could result in better outcomes , it’s very exciting to be involved in this highly ambitious project.”
Leveraging outcomes from project ‘5D NanoPrinting’, and EIC Project ‘IV-Lab’, SMARTHEAL aims to integrate the results of micro-sensor and nano printing technologies into a disruptive smart magnetic anastomosis implant.
The SMARTHEAL project will advance this technology by embedding micro-sensors within the implant to detect key physical and chemical markers of anastomotic leaks. These sensors will be integrated with wireless electronics to transmit real-time data on healing biomarkers, with the implant’s accuracy demonstrated in pre-clinical models.
RTE Coverage: https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2025/0226/1499012-2-5m-for-trinity-college-researchers-for-cancer-healing/
AMBER has a strong emphasis on collaboration. Central to AMBER’s research remit are collaborative projects performed with industry partners, and working with academic, industry and wider stakeholder on international and national research programmes.
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