SafeDrop
Multimodal Photonic-Electronic Sensor Platform for Rapid Health and Environmental Diagnostics
Laboratory-grade chemical detection, anywhere — in minutes, not days. A bio-inspired "digital dog nose" emulating mammalian olfaction for real-time, on-site diagnostics.
The aim of the SafeDrop project
SafeDrop aims to raise the maturity of a bio-inspired, multimodal photonic–electronic sensor platform from proof-of-concept to field-validated demonstrators — delivering laboratory-grade chemical fingerprints on-site, in minutes rather than days.
By fusing silicon-photonic Mach–Zehnder interferometers with thin-film transistors in co-localised K-cells, and decoding the resulting fingerprints with AI/MIMO analytics, SafeDrop will strengthen Europe's strategic autonomy in advanced sensor technologies while enabling faster, more confident decisions in water, health, food and air.
Explore the project plan"Like a dog's nose, SafeDrop does not rely on a single perfect sensor — it learns from a constellation of imperfect, cross-responsive channels to recognise what matters in the field."
Why it matters
Laboratory analysis is accurate but slow, centralised and expensive. Portable field sensors are fast, but often lack the selectivity to be trusted for critical decisions.
SafeDrop bridges this gap: a compact, field-deployable platform that delivers laboratory-grade, multimodal chemical fingerprints on-site — turning days of waiting into minutes of actionable insight.
Fast and selective. By fusing optical and electrical readouts and decoding them with machine learning, SafeDrop targets both the speed of field sensors and the confidence of the lab.
In SafeDrop we will
Six objectives guiding the consortium from platform integration to open-ecosystem release.
Integrate photonics & electronics
Co-localise MZI sensors and TFT channels into a scalable 32-cell K-cell array on a CMOS-compatible process.
Build a cross-responsive coating library
Deposit >20 partially overlapping organic-semiconductor coatings via ESJET printing for rich chemical fingerprints.
Decode with AI / MIMO
Fuse optical and electrical channels to classify targets with high accuracy and low false-positive rates.
Validate four demonstrators
Field-test across water quality, point-of-care health, food safety and airborne VOC / drone sensing.
Drive down cost & power
Target a disposable cartridge ≤ €10 (≤ €5 at scale) and a <1 W system power budget for field deployment.
Open the ecosystem
Release open PDKs, open hardware and standards contributions to grow a wider European sensor community.
Real-world use cases
SafeDrop will validate its platform across four application domains — each a replicable path from sample to decision.
Water quality
Heavy metals & pathogens at ppb–ppt levels, with < 30 min time-to-result.
Health / UTI
Point-of-care urinary-tract-infection diagnostics in minutes.
Food safety
Apple-juice demonstrator (CS3), benchmarked against LC-MS/MS.
Air / VOC & drone
Exploratory TRL 4 lab validation, transitioning to a drone-mounted demonstrator.
From sample to answer
A single, synchronous pipeline turns a raw sample into an actionable result.
Five technologies, one platform
A digital dog nose built on photonics, electronics, printing, microfluidics and AI.
MZI photonics
Evanescent-field Mach–Zehnder interferometers with thermo-optic multiplexing.
TFT electronics
Co-localised thin-film transistors adding orthogonal selectivity via ΔIDS.
ESJET coatings
Precision deposition of >20 overlapping organic-semiconductor coatings.
AI / MIMO analytics
>99% classification accuracy and >95% false-positive reduction.
Ambitious, measurable targets
These are project targets and remain so until validated through the demonstrators.
SafeDrop consortium
10 leading European organisations from 7 countries — research institutes, universities and industry working together.
Who is SafeDrop for?
Clear pathways for researchers, industry, policymakers and the wider public.
Researchers
Explore the multimodal sensing pipeline, AI/MIMO analytics and open PDK releases.
Industry & innovators
See how the platform targets water, health, food and air markets with field-deployable diagnostics.
Policymakers
Follow policy briefs, project targets and Europe's path to strategic sensor autonomy.
The public
Understand how a "digital dog nose" can help keep water, food and environments safer — faster.
News, events & resources
SafeDrop project officially kicks off
The full consortium met at Fraunhofer IAP in Potsdam-Golm to launch the 48-month Horizon Europe project.
Issue #1 — project launch
Our first newsletter will summarise objectives, partners and the road ahead.
Official website & channels launch
The project website, LinkedIn and X profiles go live as SafeDrop's central public hub.
Let's collaborate
For press, collaboration, or open-ecosystem inquiries, reach out to the coordinator or subscribe to receive news, results and resources throughout SafeDrop's lifetime.
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