PICCOLO will develop a new fully functional multimodal biophotonics endoscope probe enabling a faster and more reliable diagnosis than current optical methods, reducing polyp missing rates and allowing patient stratification even in early stages of colorectal neoplasia and therefore make earlier better clinical decisions.

The project relies on the development of fluorescence imaging, OCT and MPT components and its integration in a fully functional endoscopy system. In order to do so, the main technical assets and components of the endoscope must be validated with clinical procedures to check the safety of the system, its sensitivity and specificity.

A project of these characteristics requires a multidisciplinary approach involving both technical (photonics, electronics, machine learning, and software development) and clinical (gastroenterology, pathology, animal trials, ethical, regulatory) knowledge to cover the design and validation process of the proposed approach. This consortium bears in mind regulatory considerations of new medical devices (such as ISO 8600 or EN 60601-2-22:1996) that will be fully satisfied for commercialisation beyond the project.