SafeDrop | Multimodal Photonic-Electronic Sensor Platform

Horizon Europe Project

Rapid, on-site detection for a safer world

SafeDrop envisions a paradigm shift in multimodal chemical sensing via a bio-inspired platform emulating mammalian olfaction.

Combining silicon photonics (Mach–Zehnder Interferometers) with thin-film transistors (TFTs) in co-localised K-cells, the platform delivers high-dimensional, robust chemical fingerprints with laboratory-grade performance in a compact, field-deployable format.

Water Quality

Heavy metals & pathogens at ppb–ppt levels in real time

Healthcare

Point-of-care UTI diagnostics in minutes

Food Safety

Pesticides, toxins & spoilage detection

The Vision

A scalable, CMOS-compatible platform that fuses optical (ΔP) and electrical (ΔI) readouts from cross-responsive organic semiconductor coatings. Machine learning decodes the resulting high-dimensional fingerprints with >99% accuracy and >95% false-positive reduction.

TRL 3 → TRL 7 32 K-cells (explore 64) <1 W power Cartridge ≤ €10, scale up ≤ €5 Pump-free microfluidics Open PDK & ecosystem

Technology

A digital dog nose

32 co-localised K-cells (MZI photonic sensor + TFT electronic channel) functionalised with cross-responsive organic semiconductors

Photonic MZI

Evanescent-field enhanced interferometers with thermo-optic multiplexing and single Ge-on-Si photodiode readout

Thin-Film Transistor

Co-localised electrical readout delivering orthogonal selectivity via ΔI_DS

ESJET Printing

Precision deposition of >20 partially overlapping OSC coatings in <15 min per 32-cell array

AI + MIMO

>99% classification accuracy, >95% false-positive reduction, <1 s latency

Our Consortium

10 leading European organisations working together

Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research (IAP)

Coordinator • Germany

Institutul De Chimie Macromoleculara Petru Poni (ICMPP)

Romania

Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK)

Italy

PHIX BV

Netherlands

Dublin City University (DCU)

Ireland

Munster Technological University (MTU)

Ireland

Flowphys AS

Norway

OLIVERIS TECH INCUBATOR Ltd

Ireland

Lancaster University

Spike Renewables

Italy

Kick-off Meeting

SafeDrop project officially kicks off

The SafeDrop consortium held its kick-off meeting on 18-19 June 2026 in Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research (IAP), marking the official start of our 48-month Horizon Europe project (HORIZON-CL4-2025-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-01).

Coordinated by IAP, SafeDrop brings together 10 partners from 7 European countries to develop a bio-inspired, multimodal photonic–electronic sensor platform — a "digital dog nose" that emulates mammalian olfaction for rapid, on-site diagnostics.

By fusing silicon-photonic interferometers with thin-film transistors in co-localised "K-cells," SafeDrop will deliver synchronous optical and electrical readouts, enabling laboratory-grade detection of contaminants in water, health, food and air in minutes rather than days. Over the coming four years, the project will progress from proof-of-concept to validated demonstrators across four real-world use cases, supported by an open ecosystem of design kits, open hardware and standards contributions.

The kick-off brought the full consortium together to align on objectives, work plan and the road ahead. We look forward to sharing our progress — follow us on LinkedIn and X for updates.

Meeting highlights