n-TRACK responds to the need of tools to evaluate and predict the safety and success of cell-based treatments in earlier stages.

The current lack of methods providing real-time tracking of transplanted cells and knowledge on their early biodistribution and viability, is one of the major weakness of the available cell-based treatments.

Stem cells will be labelled with nTRACK gold nano-particles and fully characterised for uptake, functionality, and safety. The labelled stem cells will be injected into an injured muscle and tracked using imaging systems. Functionality, activity and nonclinical safety will be evaluated. Regulatory and commercialization aspects will be addressed to foster a prompt clinical translation and exploitation.

Objectives

• Facilitate stem cell labelling by delivering a standard operating procedure to be transferred to third parties.
• Provide vital functional information on the therapeutic stem cells by machine learning algorithms.
• Enable non-invasive whole body and long-term cell monitoring with clinical applicable imaging.
• Design protocols for human translation that can recommend optimal imaging conditions.
• Increase the sensitivity of the imaging methods up to a single cell detection level.
• Provide early assessment of cell therapy effectiveness based on prompt evaluation of the migration and bio-distribution patterns.

1 October 2017 – 31 March 2022