The Carl Zeiss Foundation is funding a multimodal research project at the EAH Jena with one million euros.

The “OptoCarDi” project at the Ernst Abbe University of Applied Sciences Jena is launching a groundbreaking project in cardiovascular diagnostics. The Carl Zeiss Foundation is supporting the project with one million euros over three years, enabling the development of an innovative, multimodal optical catheter for diagnosing heart muscle diseases such as myocarditis.

The goal is a probe-based system that can visualize tissue changes in the heart in a marker-free and gentle manner – without invasive procedures such as endomyocardial biopsy. This could significantly reduce the risk for patients and simultaneously facilitate the implementation of the guidelines of the European Society of Cardiology.

“This technology provides physicians with a tool that not only improves diagnostics but also enables more targeted treatment,” explains project coordinator Prof. Dr. Iwan Schie.

The interdisciplinary team combines expertise in biomedical engineering (Prof. Dr. Iwan Schie), miniaturized optical sensor technology (Prof. Dr. Robert Brunner), and cardiology (Prof. Dr. Möbius-Winkler, University Hospital Jena). The research is complemented by partners from industry and academia.

With “OptoCarDi,” the vision of more precise, lower-risk diagnostics of heart muscle diseases becomes a reality – a significant step for patient care and cardiovascular research.