This paper presents the EU’s research framework programmes and the mission and objectives of the Photonics Unit. It describes the main challenges and R&D priorities which the Photonics unit of the Information Society and Media Directorate General of the European Commission is supporting under the 7th Framework Programme and provides representative examples of EU-funded photonics research projects. Finally, it also presents the way forward for EU photonics research.

For any healthcare systems, chronic diseases represent the heaviest cost burden. A plethora of ICT based applications have been developed in recent years, allowing a partial tackling of problems related to specific diseases. CLEAR proposes the implementation of a tele-rehabilitation service in four European Member States (IT, ES, NL, PL). The ambition is to convert the project, after its completion, to a European service for tele-rehabilitation and to contribute to the harmonization of e-health services in the EU.

The Competitiveness and Innovation framework Programme (CIP) runs for the years 2007 - 2013. It is organised around three specific multi-annual programmes: 1) The Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (EIP); 2) The Information and Communication Technologies Policy Support Programme (ICT PSP); 3)The Intelligent Energy Europe Programme (IEE). This factsheet deals with objective 2.2: ICT for adaptive urban transport management infrastructure and services.

As part of its research funding activities the European Commission has been funding research into Free, Libre and Open Source software (FOSS) for a number of years. Many projects make use of existing FOSS, or release their results as FOSS. Some focus on FOSS itself, seeking to improve the technologies used and to remove barriers to FOSS adoption and use. These are the projects that are highlighted in this leaflet.

HITCH is an EC-funded research project for developing the European Union's roadmap for Interoperability Conformance Testing of information systems in the field of Healthcare. The project started in January 2010 and is running for 18 months. The project is realized by partners being already at the heart of eHealth testing: IHE Europe and EuroRec from Belgium, INRIA and ETSI from France as well as MedCom from Denmark and OFFIS from Germany. HITCH sketches a vision of how interoperability and conformance testing of eHealth systems should be organized in Europe and beyond.

HeartCycle is an Integrated Project aiming at researching, developing and clinically validating innovative solutions for the management of cardiovascular diseases. It focuses on patients after heart attack and chronically ill heart failure patients. In future the number of these patients will dramatically increase due to the demographic change. We will face a large need for care and at the same time a gap in the number of available care givers. Finding better ways that allow health professionals to manage and treat more patients with high-quality healthcare at moderate cost is therefore seen as a huge opportunity space. Empowering patients to play a more active role in their own disease management will be crucial but remains a major challenge.

The number and range of networked devices that use Internet addresses are still increasing quickly: from PCs and mobile phones to RFID readers and in-car devices. As demand for addresses continues to grow, it is time to start using the next generation Internet Protocol: IPv6 will remedy that situation.

MEDNet is a European project which has developed a health care network in rural areas in Peru and Brazil. Isolated clinics at rural areas communicate via satellite communication with central hospitals in Peru and Brazil. In addition, there are 3 more sites connected via ADSL with a central hospital in Brazil. Physicians at the isolated sites are sending ultrasound examinations in order to get a second opinion from expert physicians. The system has been in full operation since June 2010 and a number of teleconsultations take place daily.

Modern medicine is irreversibly shifting towards less invasive surgical procedures. Conventional open surgery approaches are systematically being replaced by interventions that reduce access trauma and thereby minimise pain and hospitalisation periods. In the perspective of patient safety, SCATh aims at minimizing these drawbacks specifically for a series of promising catheterization procedures with as common denominator treatment of cardiovascular disease, the main cause of death in the EU. The final product of SCATh will be a single software framework and robotic platform that integrates all the technological tools developed during the project.

Adverse Drug Events harm patients and generate unproductive extra healthcare costs. It is a major public health Issue. The PSIP project aims at developing innovative computer-based applications able to automatically detect situations at risk and to deliver healthcare professionals and patients relevant “ad hoc” information helping them to prevent Adverse Drug Events. The 2-page document presents the challenges faced and the results achieved so far.

The preDiCT project began in June 2008, with a mission to model, simulate, and ultimately predict the impact of pharmacological compounds on the heart's rhythm using computer models. A significant and growing number of drug candidates fail to reach market due to adverse effects on heart rhythm which only show up during clinical trials. We hope to achieve a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms, which may lead to refinement of the drug development process to avoid these side effects.

Scientists from the Bernstein Center at the University in Freiburg in Germany have taken a step forward in the quest to predict epileptic seizures by monitoring the pre-seizure changes in sufferers' brains. The research study was funded in part by the EPILEPSIAE ('Evolving platform for improving living expectation of patients suffering from Ictal events') project, which received nearly EUR 3 million under the 'Information and communication technologies' (ICT) Theme of the EU's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). The research was recently published in the journal Epilepsia.

The 'Intelligent Car Initiative' provides the policy framework for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solutions for smarter, safer and cleaner road transport in Europe. It aims to reduce road accidents, congestion and gridlock, and to lower fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.

This very rich newsletter is providing, among others, information on new Virtual Physiological Human Projects, the VPH Institute, the ARGOS project: toward a transatlantic policy for the long-term sustainability of the VPH Infostructure, the VPH Training in Action: MeDDiCA, VPH NoE News FP7 Health - Orientation Paper with Indicative List of Topics, etc. It also focuses on the PredictAD project that deals with Alzheimer’s disease and features a comprehensive interview with I. Iakovidis on the VPH related research in the area of ICT for Ageing in the future.

eCall, an electronic safety system that automatically calls emergency services in the case of a serious car accident, is ready to be deployed across Europe. Even if you are unconscious, the system will inform rescue workers of the crash site's exact location, and the ambulance will be on its way within minutes. eCall will save lives and reduce the severity of injuries. The technical development of eCall is completed. The Commission is reinforcing efforts to speed up the deployment of this life-saving technology, with the aim of having a fully functional EU-wide service in place by 2015. Parallel action of Member States, car manufacturers, telecom operators and emergency centres is now needed to ensure that this system will seamlessly function throughout Europe by this time.

From a patient’s heart monitor to electronic health records, eHealth has integrated itself into all aspects of healthcare. Grid computing is playing a key role in this growing area, providing storage and computing power for initiatives in several biomedical disciplines. Together, eHealth and grids are shaping the future of healthcare. This briefing examines some of the key eHealth projects in Europe, looks at the challenges involved and presents opinions from experts in the field.

The objective of eSafety is to improve road safety through the use of Intelligent Vehicle Safety Systems. It is a cooperation of European industries and the Commission under the umbrella of the Intelligent Car Initiative.

Mobility in Europe is growing as European citizens travel abroad more and more often for business reasons, as commuters or as exchange students. This increased mobility also leads to a greater need for supportive measures for the travelling population, in particular in the healthcare sector. When abroad, we all could find ourselves in need of medical care some day. The epSOS consortium has taken on the goal of improving medical treatment of European citizens while abroad. This year, the epSOS pilot operation phase will be initiated.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a highly relevant and epidemiologically significant contributor to loss of quality and quantity of life within Europe with considerable impact on its economy. It causes over 1.9 million deaths in the EU every year with a total estimated cost of EUR 169 billion. The diversity and quantity of available data in current clinical workflow present a significant opportunity to improve clinical care of CVD. At the same time, the clinical practice of using population-based metrics derived from disparate diagnostic tools, imaging devices and physiological measurement systems can indicate contradictory treatments plans due to inter-individual variability in pathophysiology. The euHeart project is working on the In-silico simulation of the patient's heart to address these issues and to provide the best assistive decision-making tool.

The i2010 strategy brings together all European Union policies, initiatives and actions that aim to boost the development and the use of digital technologies in every day working and private life. These technologies - also known as information and communication technologies (ICT) – make a positive contribution to economic growth, job creation and the enhancement of the quality of life. i2010 is part of the Lisbon strategy to make Europe a more competitive and dynamic knowledge-driven economy.