VTT announced in January 2023 a new 3.4 M€ investment to develop the research environment and manufacturing capabilities of Printocent pilot factory in Oulu. This enables the development of new innovative photonics-based medical devices and prototype manufacturing in a regulated manufacturing environment.

More versatile, flexible and continuous monitoring of people’s condition with improved user comfort can be obtained thanks to photonics-based technology breakthroughs. The increased amount of data will enable more personalised care and better resource-efficiency in healthcare system. This supports the renewal of conventionally reactive healthcare towards more proactive and resource-efficient direction.

The new research facility is particularly suitable for the development of photonics-based sensor solutions, such as smart patches, rapid diagnostics cartridges and their optical readers. The investment provides an opportunity for companies to develop new concepts in a pilot-scale fabrication environment that is compatible with the medical device compliant industrial production. The new environment will help to reduce the research and development costs of companies and to accelerate the commercialisation of photonics-based medical devices and diagnostic products.