Misra will aim to develop innovative flexible needles used in clinical practice. Needles are already used for minimally invasive medical procedures, such as biopsies, but current needles are often rigid and can miss their target. If flexible needles are used, they can be steered with sub-millimeter accuracy. This is important, for example, during ablation, a minimally-invasive procedure used to remove or terminate a faulty electrical pathway from sections of the heart.
The Proof of Concept grants can get up to €150.000 for a period of 18 months. Only researchers who already have an ERC grant are eligible to receive this grant, meant to explore the commercial or societal potential of their EU funded research project. Sarthak Misra, who is a professor in the UT Department of Biomechanical Engineering, qualifies for the funding as he received an ERC Starting Grant worth 1.5 million euros in 2014.
