New medical technology pilot environment established in Finland aims to slash market entry time of patient-friendly solutions

With the pilot line environment, non-invasive devices enabling early cancer detection and remote heart disease monitoring can advance from research and development to market faster than before, benefiting patients more quickly. Established by VTT with an investment of EUR 3.4 million, the facility is unique in Europe and is focused in particular on medical devices based on photonics technology.

ESPOO, Finland, March 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland has opened a new pilot line environment for medical devices in Oulu, Finland. The aim of the facility is to accelerate the market entry of patient-friendly innovations. This unique-to-Europe pilot environment enables fluent R&D&I processes offering novel technologies and prototype design and manufacturing fulfilling tight industrial quality requirements.

VTT has invested EUR 3.4 million in the state-of-the-art cleanroom and manufacturing equipment for the pilot line environment. It enables the production of small and middle-size prototype series consisting of the most advanced electronic, photonic, microelectronic and microfluidic component and integration technologies. These enable the development of comfortable-to-wear, skin-like wearable sensors for continuous monitoring of cardiovascular diseases and microfluidics biochemical sensors for ultra-sensitive cancer diagnostics.

Typically, when innovative startups collaborate with research centres to develop novel technologies for medical applications, they tend to run into issues when the time comes to bring the products into a regulated manufacturing environment. Without the appropriate facilities or partners, the journey of new innovations often comes to a halt. Large-scale pilot manufacturers tend to either focus on large-scale prototype production or only manufacture completed designs.

The journey from breakthroughs in medical technology to introducing devices to patient care is slow and expensive due to the complexity of the needed technologies and regulations. Furthermore, for device manufacturers, the high cost of setting up a pilot production line is a significant obstacle, and small prototype batches are not cost-effective.

"Potentially life-saving breakthroughs are constantly made in research labs around the world, and many of them have the potential to make unpleasant health monitoring, medical examinations and procedures more patient-friendly. However, bringing these products to market has been a major pain point for the industry for decades due to challenges in scaling pilots and long certification processes. The pilot line we have established provides a state-of-the-art environment where development-phase prototypes can be manufactured following requirements for medical devices," says Jussi Hiltunen, Research Professor, Sensing Solutions at VTT.

The pilot environment provides the ability to produce early test devices that follow industry standards and regulations, with the added capability to also produce batches large enough for validation needs. This speeds up and reduces the cost of the process of transferring research innovations to the CE certification phase in Europe and the FDA process in the United States.

Key focus areas for the pilot line include preventive monitoring of cardiovascular diseases, metabolic syndromes, and early cancer detection, as well as cancer recurrence. The new medical devices can, for example, continuously measure the glucose levels of patients with diabetes more comfortably or detect cancer at an early stage from the skin or at a molecular level, improving prognosis.

"Future health technologies will resemble thin, almost undetectable devices - almost like invisible tattoos. For patients whose condition requires daily monitoring or who are undergoing a monitoring process as part of their care, it provides a comfortable alternative to having to wear a clunky medical device that can catch on door handles and be bothersome in the shower, for instance," says Kari Rönkä, Vice President, Sensing Solutions at VTT.

Another important area for the pilot line is rapid diagnostics. Instead of sending the patient sample to a central laboratory that may be in a separate city, the doctor or nurse can perform a reliable test immediately at the site. This saves time and costs, and helps the patient get onto the right care path more quickly. A stretch goal for VTT is to help bring to market innovations that enable continuous and reliable measurement of the same precise parameters as blood tests, without the need for lab visits or needles.

The pilot line began operating in early 2025. VTT will collaborate with medical device product companies and manufacturers as well as with universities and other research and healthcare organisations. VTT is a major technology developer and pilot manufacturer in Europe. For example, VTT coordinates in the EU Chips Act programme, a PhotonMed-pilot manufacturing project with 39 participating organisations and a 32-million-euro budget. The programme's main aim is to establish medical device compliant production capabilities for the latest photonics technologies.

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd

Jussi Hiltunen, Research Professor, Sensing Solutions
[email protected], tel. +358 40 779 5831

Kari Rönkä, Vice President, Sensing Solutions
[email protected], tel. +358 40 779 5831

MEDIA MATERIAL: Photos from VTT's medical technology pilot line in Oulu. Photographer: Henri Luoma

Further information on VTT:
Paula Bergqvist, Communications Manager
+358 20 722 5161, [email protected]
www.vttresearch.com

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