Projects
Internet-of-animals: Design and development of an integrated health and welfare monitoring system for dairy cows Ghent University
Dairy farms worldwide are increasing in size. This makes the health monitoring of individual cows and the timely detection of anomalies a very labour-intensive task, leading to significant additional costs for the farmer. To manage the intensification of livestock production in an economically efficient way, the modern dairy farms have to rely on automated systems for the collection and the interpretation of animal behavioural data. The ...
How polymeric sensors can prevent food waste: expiration date reinvented. Ghent University
This proposal addresses one of the most important challenges of our society the food loss and food waste around the globe. The main sector contributing to food waste are the consumers. Most consumers mistakenly believe that expiration dates on food indicate how safe the food is to consume, however these dates are not related to the risk of food poisoning or foodborne illness. These dates solely indicate freshness used by manufacturers to ...
Model-based monitoring of recovery and cure for improved mastitis management in dairy cows KU Leuven
With an annual production value of 639 million euros, dairy production is the fourth most important agricultural sector of Flanders. About 18% of all farms have dairy cows, summing up to a total of more than 300 000 animals. The modern dairy sector is characterized by strong specialization and scale enlargement, in which technology plays a prominent role. This technology supports the management on farm, and secures that despite the large herd ...
Wearable sensors for the assessment of physical and eating behaviours Ghent University
Healthy dietary behaviours (DB) and physical behaviours (PB) (including physical activity, sedentary and sleep behaviours) are linked to reduced non-communicable disease and obesity. Combined measurement of the effects of PB on DB is currently problematic. WEALTH will develop a new methodology, linking advanced processing of accelerometer data with triggered Ecological Momentary Assessments (EMA) questioning dietary intake in response to ...
Ecophysiological modeling of fruit growth for smart digital horticulture KU Leuven
The goal of this PhD project is to develop a digital fruit – a mathematical model that accurately describes and predicts biochemical and physical changes in fruit as affected by pre- and postharvest conditions. Such a model can be used to study the effect of environmental factors on fruit physiology during growth and postharvest life. The aim is to develop and apply an ecophysiological model of tomato fruit growth and quality. This model will ...
Computational design and engineering of fluid flow in 3D printed microfluidic lab-on-chips KU Leuven
Early detection of diseases is crucial to effectively treat a patient and to improve the treatment outcome. However, diagnostic analyses are mostly performed in centralized facilities, hindering timely disease identification and the subsequent start of treatment. This is especially true in developing countries where few analytical laboratories are present which are often difficult to reach for most patients. For these reasons, healthcare ...
3D printing point-of-care diagnostics driven by capillary flow KU Leuven
Healthcare takes a central role in society, as it promotes general physical and mental wellbeing of people, next to contributing to a country’s economy, development, and industrialization. Over the last centuries, healthcare has evolved from home remedies towards providing health services from central places like hospitals, which serve both as a treatment facilities and research centers. Nonetheless, this is not affordable nor accessible to ...
Innovative bioassay concepts for Alzheimer's disease diagnostics KU Leuven
In recent years, the biosensors field has experienced a remarkable growth and underwent a number of major transitions. One particularly interesting transition is the shift from ensemble measurements to so-called single-entity approaches. These systems, enabling detection of low femtomolar (fM) to even attomolar (aM) concentrations of target molecules, have been shown to be highly valuable in a wide variety of applications, including food ...