Projects

Life-sustaining artificial kidney treatment or haemodialysis (HD) is needed for end-stage renal disease and critical care patients. High quality HD must ensure effective and personalized blood purification from harmful uremic toxins (UT), among inflammation-cardiovascular disease related middle size (MM)-UT. This, urged by a need for HD surveillance in crisis (coronavirus, war, energy), has created a demand for on-line, bloodless, and non-infectious tools for UT removal monitoring. Optical monitoring can provide a feasible tool for this. However, to date no reliable monitoring technology of MM-UTs is available. This project aims to fill this knowledge gap. Optical spectral signature identification combined with chromatographic and biochemical analyses to reveal the main optical MM markers in biofluids, selection of best signal processing algorithms, and a proof-of-concept in-vivo clinical study is planned to develop a novel optical technology for on-line MM-UT removal monitoring in HD.

The overall goal of the project is to increase the number of healthy life years of the population. Currently, Estonia has recorded one of the lowest number of healthy life years at birth in the EU. To achieve this goal, three closely related areas of digital health are researched, developed and piloted. We use the standardized data exchange environment and digital data of the Estonian health information system (EHIS) to develop applications that increase the use of data collected by the person for health promotion, prevention and control of chronic conditions. Second, we focus on sensors and digital applications supported by artificial intelligence (AI) to allow a person to collect both biosignals and textual data in machine-readable form. With this, we speed up the detection of health risks and reduce the healthcare workload. Thirdly, we develop various AI methods by combining the data in EHIS and the Health Insurance Fund's database, as well as the data collected by the person.

Around 13% of the adult population suffers some form of kidney damage, and the death rate of complications related to chronic kidney disease (CKD) is very high. The primary cause of death in CKD patients is cardiovascular disease. Vascular calcification (VC), one of the cardiovascular complications, is prevailing in CKD. One of the causes of VC in CKD is the disbalance between VC inhibitors and inducers due to failed kidney function. During the dialysis therapy for end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients, inducers and also inhibitors are removed from the patients’ blood. This project (VasCalDi) aims to develop unique optical methods to estimate VC and monitor VC inhibitors removal during dialysis in patients with ESRD. The project's goal is to make the work of hospitals and physicians more efficient and improve the life quality and survival of ESRD patients by monitoring disturbances in VC inhibitor balance and vasculature allowing timely interventions.

The complexity of an urban water collection system, which includes wastewater, rainwater and drainage water, can be expressed in the length and connections of pipelines, the use of pumping stations or various collection tanks and tunnels, the consumer profile (domestic wastewater or industrial wastewater), the inflow of rainwater, the use of pre-treatment plants, etc. Therefore, there is a risk of unforeseen disturbances, which also results in odor nuisance. Large-scale and voluminous sewage networks are usually associated with a long residence time of wastewater before reaching the water treatment plant. Due to the long residence time, water pollution can be carried into the air through mixing processes in the pipeline and exit from sewage wells. Sewage gases can cause disturbances because unpleasant odors significantly affect the living and working environment and pose a threat to human health. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a well-known irritant in the human respiratory tract. This gas has an unpleasant odor that is recognizable to humans as a rotten egg. One of the main goals of this project is to investigate the spread of hydrogen sulfide in urban sewage networks and to explain its effects in densely populated urban areas and on underground pipeline structures.

Reliable monitoring of drinking water quality is of critical importance from a public health perspective, as it enables the prevention of diseases associated with microbiological and chemical contamination and contributes to the mitigation of related health risks. Continuous surveillance of drinking water quality is particularly essential in order to detect deterioration in water quality at the earliest possible stage and to enable timely intervention before contaminated water reaches consumers. In addition, drinking water quality is a key determinant in a range of industrial processes, including the food and beverage, pharmaceutical, and chemical industries, where variations in water composition may significantly affect process performance as well as product quality. The objective of this project is to conduct feasibility studies and experimental investigations that will provide a basis for assessing compliance with drinking water quality requirements through the application of optical spectral analysis and signal processing algorithms. The outcomes of the feasibility study will enable the evaluation of the suitability of optical and real-time measurement methods for drinking water quality monitoring and will establish a foundation for their further development and implementation in environmental, public health, and industrial technological applications

The proposed experimental research is part of the EU project Co-Udlabs, one of whose partners is the field laboratory of Aalborg University in Frejlev. The air and water stratified-flow pipe at the Frejlev research station will be reconstructed in order to examine the ventilation conditions of the water collection system.