About the project

Unlocking mechanical limitations of synthetic heart stents with auxetic, fiber tubular scaffolds.

In the fight against cardiovascular disease, stents and grafts are implanted in patients to support or repair damaged or high-risk vessels. These stents and grafts provide robust mechanical support, but do not provide tissue repair. It would be better if such implants actively promoted tissue repair and regeneration over time.

The AUXSTENT project addresses these challenges and is already working on 3D-printable and bioresorbable stents that encourage and stimulate regeneration. At Eindhoven Engine, AUXSTENT will take the next step: developing a functional prototype. In this project, the focus is on combining the functional design of these stents with available engineering and materials knowledge.

About the project

The Smart Heat Shed (smart heat storage) project addresses the rapid energy transition by combining two international breakthrough technologies, a heat façade and a heat battery. The heat facade (developed by TNO-Emergo spin-off Calosol) is an innovative, aesthetically versatile solar thermal facade collector, which effectively harvests solar energy at low outdoor temperatures. The heat battery (developed by the TNO-TU/e spin-off Cellcius) is the first completely loss-free heat storage solution. The latter is also 10x cheaper than electrical storage and much more compact than water or phase transition materials (PCM).

About the project

Currently, there are 55 million people worldwide with dementia. This number is expected to rise to 78 million by 2030 and 138 million by 2050 according to the WHO. There is currently no medical solution for dementia. In addition, there is a shortage of caregivers. This is putting the healthcare system under pressure. Technology should and can provide the support needed for dementia sufferers and their caregivers.

Warm technology

The WECARE project focuses on extending human care by applying the Warm Technology concept to interactive agents, such as chatbots and companion robots. Warm Technology ensures that this technology is made accessible and appropriate for the environment of people with dementia and their caregivers, thereby also taking this environment into account. In this project, work is being done to develop more advanced behaviors and representations in interactive agents.