The university's activities for Sustainable Development and Goal 3 presented in the reports for 2021-2022 and 2020-2021 "Lodz University of Technology on the path of sustainable development".
Repairing damaged peripheral nerves is one of the most difficult problems in medicine. Recent studies have shown that these nerves have the intrinsic capacity to regenerate. Unfortunately, they are inhibited by the unfavourable biological environment at the site of damage.
A promising technique for the regeneration of peripheral nerve damage is the use of chitosan-based implants. Chitosan is a natural polymer produced by organisms in quantities exceeding 10 tonnes per year. The natural origin of chitosan means that it has beneficial biological properties for biomedical applications.
A new method for manufacturing chitosan implants to regenerate damaged peripheral nerves has recently been developed at the Faculty of Process and Environmental Engineering. Studies have shown that chitosan implants show adequate biocompatibility and bioactivity. The use of chitosan implants may contribute to progress in the regeneration of damaged nervous tissue, i.e. a recovery of lost functions which is rapid and as complete as possible.
The new method of their production makes it possible to obtain a product with more favourable properties than the materials used so far, which should Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages increase the effectiveness of the therapy, limit its side effects and reduce treatment costs (by reducing the costs of casing production and hospitalisation time).
Since 2007, Lodz University of Technology has had an Academic Help Centre, which cooperates with an addiction therapist, a coach and a psychologist, providing specialist educational and psycho-prophylactic support.
This is an initiative implemented by the Disability Office, which offers free individual psychological consultations for TUL students, PhD students, graduates and employees.
The Centre offers development-oriented sessions, psychological short-term support and assistance in emergency situations. Meetings with the psychologist take place at the Disability Office or online.
Approximately 20 consultations per week took place between 2020 and 2021 as part of this initiative. During this period, additional support was put in place for people struggling to adapt to a new and difficult situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The skin of a premature infant is characterised by low cohesiveness between the dermis and the epidermis, which causes the processes of heat and water loss through the skin to be much faster than in infants with a developed epidermal layer. As a response to this problem, employees of the Institute of Material Science of Textile and Polymer Composites have developed a technology of protective clothing that ensures the physiological comfort and safety of a premature baby.
Newly developed clothing products for premature babies reduce water loss through evaporation and at the same time provide thermal comfort. The developed material structures ensure the transport of mass and moisture, which maintains the thermal balance ensuring the safety of premature babies. The work takes into account the variable raw material composition and structure of a multilayer textile product in correlation with the general condition of the premature baby.
It is expected that the introduction of further improvements and innovations in the technology of clothing products for premature babies, whose primary function will be the protection of health and life, will positively influence the improvement of conditions in Neonatology Wards.
This will reduce the number of children under-going long-term treatment as well as the number of adverse events due to hypo-thermia or excessive water loss.
It will also improve the psychological comfort of parents of premature babies who will be given clothes instead of polythene plastic bags.
There are no universal dressings on the market for use by civilian and uniformed services to help reduce mortality
resulting from bleeding. In response to this problem, a consortium of Lodz University of Technology (the Faculty of Chemistry, the Faculty of Materials Technology and Textile Design), Bella Sp. z o.o., TRICOMED SA and the Military Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology has developed a dressing kit comprising an absorbent dressing integrated with a bandage, a tampon for gunshot and stab wounds, a non-woven haemostatic gauze and a tactical stasis for heavy bleeding wounds.
The innovative, complementary dressing kit for soldiers, uniformed services and medical professionals is versatile and easy to use. It minimises the time taken to dress wounds and, in the case of a tampon for gunshot or stab wounds, an absorbent dressing integrated with a bandage and a non-woven fabric, the haemostatic effect is significantly improved compared with products currently available on the market.
The dressing kit significantly reduces the time needed for medical staff to dress and also allows for safe medical evacuation.
The main assumption of the proposed solution is to stop bleeding in 2-3 minutes. The developed universal dressing will be
able to complement the individual medical package of the soldier.
The project results respond to market needs, make the products competitive in relation to solutions offered so far by other companies and exhibit high innovative qualities.
People with disabilities are often excluded from social life because their environment is not adapted to their perceptual or physical abilities. One of the most serious obstacles is lack of vision. Enabling such people to perceive reality enhances their comfort of living. Help came here from the scientists from the Faculty of Technical Physics, Computer Science and Applied Mathematics.
Their proposed method of reading the colours of images by means of sound consists in digitizing the image and then mapping the colour space of the image onto the sound space. The result of this mapping is stored in the memory of a computer, whose input is connected to a motion sensor located above the image, and whose output is connected to a sound source, each sound of which is assigned a different value of the colour space.
The image viewer is then told which sounds are assigned to which colours in the image. The image viewer stands in front of the image in the space where the sensor registers movement. The hand, in turn, is placed as a reading marker on the background of any area of the image and, after a message is sent from the sensor to the computer program about the position of the marker on the background of the image, a sound is emitted corresponding to the colour of the area of the image indicated by the viewer.
An easy-to-use device helping patients to take their medication properly has been designed, in collaboration with physicians and caregivers, by a team of students from the Ubicomp Student Research Group and the Staff of the Institute of Applied Computer Science, with which the Research Group in question is affiliated. It also allows the patients, their caregivers and doctors to monitor
compliance with treatment recommendations. This solution is especially dedicated to the elderly who often forget to take their pills.
The system alerts the patient to take the medicine using LEDs and a sound. The programmable dispenser utilises user-entered data, and a mobile app linked to the device allows caregivers to monitor treatment remotely. The modular architecture of the smart dispenser also allows storage of medication that are taken on an ad hoc basis. The administration of medicines is done through a website.
Sport is not only a way of achieving good health, but also a means of having a positive impact on the social situation of the participant. For people with varying degrees and types of disability, physical activity acquires particular value. The sports facilities of the TUL Sports Centre are being constantly adapted to the needs of people with disabilities.
The Sports Bay was designed and built as a disabled-friendly facility. The swimming pool is located on level 0, right at the entrance to the facility from the car park. Wheelchair users will not encounter any ramps or obstacles on their way to the ticket offices or to the pool. A spacious, separate changing room is a place where visitors can easily prepare for swimming or other water activities. The Sports Bay has joined the Lodz Barrier Free Card. Its holders are offered entry to the swimming pool with a 40% discount.
A sports section for people with disabilities was created, i.e. the AZS Integration Sports Section, in the University Sports Association (AZS) of Lodz University of Technology. It aims to create suitable conditions to allow students with disabilities
to increase their participation in various forms of sporting activities.
The impulse to create the section was the "AZS Integration Polish Championships", which were held for the first time in 2016. It is a series of sports competitions for people with disabilities conducted to promote sport in the academic environment. The project is aimed at students, doctoral students and employees from all over Poland who practise or want to practise amateur sport. The opportunity to compete in sport enables people with disabilities to join or return to an active life. The Championships include competitions in such disciplines as boccia, badminton, table tennis, swimming and shooting. In 2021, Lodz University of Technology was the organiser of the Polish Integration Championship in Weightlifting.
Osteoarthritis is a contemporary epidemiological challenge affecting more than 20% of the world's population and the leading cause of mobility impairment in society. There are no diagnostic methods to detect the condition in the early stages of the disease, which ultimately leads to surgical intervention and prosthetics. Research conducted in the Faculty of Chemistry is an answer to this problem.
Their aim is to determine the relationship between the structure of articular cartilage and the degree of development of osteoarthritis, which will allow to understand the mechanism of degeneration of joint cartilage and the possibility of diagnosing the disease in its early stages.
This will enable the design, synthesis and verification for applications in degenerative disease at different stages of disease progression of novel copolymers with bottle-brush topology.
The obtained polymers will constitute model substances (analogues) of lubricin. The research program includes the development of a methodology for the determination of interactions of polymers with the surface of cartilage tissue and characterization of the properties of the obtained systems.
The project aims to develop a diagnostic method based on the analysis of Raman spectra of articular cartilage obtained with a specially designed probe. Ultimately, the planned therapy will allow to introduce a copolymer with the structure of the so-called polymer brush directly into the affected joint.
According to statistics, fear of spiders affects about 10% of the population. Members of the Ubicomp Student Research Group at the Faculty of Electrical, Electronic, Computer and Control Engineering have developed an unconventional way to combat this one of the most common phobias.
Modern treatments for arachnophobia are mostly based on the use of virtual reality technology: simulated contact with a virtual spider has proven to be an effective way to overcome fear. However, doctors note that the lack of physical interaction causes problems in managing patients' reactions in face-toface contact situations. The students’ project addresses these demands by allowing remote contact with a living spider. The students proposed using the robotic arm in exercises with living animals in zoos.
The developed system consists of a robotic arm controlled by hand movements, placed inside a terrarium with spiders and the control interface: a flexible sleeve and glove, responsible for capturing the user's movements. This allows for quasi-direct interaction with the spider, and touch is simulated through a haptic response: vibration motors located in the glove mimic sensory experiences.
Tests conducted in a simulated environment have shown the great potential of the solution in the therapeutic context, among others.
Students and employees of Lodz University of Technology participate in many physical activities organised by the university. In autumn and spring, they can take part in bicycle rallies on routes of various length and difficulty. They are very popular with the academic community.
Every year, in late spring, there is also a running competition, namely the Rector's Cup Run. This sporting event has been taking place since the 1980s. Originally, only students competed in it, but now both students and staff of Lodz University of Technology take part in the Rector's Cup. Around 800 people take part in the event every year. During the last edition of the run, participants had to cover a distance of 2.5 km in Prince Józef Poniatowski Park, located near the university.
TUL employees have also been taking part in the Lodz Business Run event for several years now. In 2021, the 10th anniversary edition of the run was held, in which 20 employees of Lodz University of Technology competed, representing various units and faculties. Funds from participants' contributions go towards helping people with mobility impairments.
A navigation system for blind and partially sighted people travelling on foot has been designed by students from the Ubicomp Student Research Group at the Institute of Applied Computer Science and the staff of the Institute. In cooperation with
doctors and physiotherapists, they have developed a special collar that is used to provide information about the direction of movement and the necessary manoeuvres.
The collar encodes geographical directions and simple manoeuvres into short vibratory pulses felt by the person wearing it around their neck.
It is wirelessly controlled by a microcontroller and connects via Bluetooth to popular navigation devices such as Google Maps.
Most existing solutions are based on audio communication. An innovative approach to the problem is to use the sense of touch on the neck as a channel to transmit information about the suggested direction of movement.
Thanks to this solution, a visually impaired person does not need to use their hearing (their key sense for perceiving the outside world) to move, but only feels gentle stimuli in the neck area. This is important for improving not only safety on the road, but also for the increased comfort and confidence of people with disabilities. Pulses are made by tiny vibration motors, at appropriate intervals or at moments requiring a manoeuvre. The collar is made of breathable sports fabric. Tiny vibration actuators can be placed wherever the user wishes
The Robot Therapy project was implemented in collaboration between Lodz University of Technology, the Academy of Fine Arts and the Navicula Foundation.
Its aim was to develop devices and programmes to support therapists working with profoundly disabled children, especially those with autism. A total of nine educational devices were created (e.g. SensorBox, Smart Sleeve, Blocks, sensory mat, soft Panda robot or interactive pillow) of various forms to support sensory therapy, as well as applications enabling the graphic programming of these devices.
The programmability of the devices allows therapists to change the way they work in order to adapt them to the therapy of a specific child or to take into account the progress of that therapy.
They can interact with different stimuli, of varying intensity, according to the therapeutic plan: this could be sound, light, temperature, vibration or movement.
The prototypes of educationaltherapeutic devices are to help in the therapy of sensory disorders of children with combined disability, i.e. autism and intellectual disability, under the care of the Navicula Centre in Lodz.
“Lodz Children’s Hospice — Łupkowa” was the first organization in Poland, undertook permanent home care for terminally ill children breathing with respirators. It operates a 24-hour centre for mechanically ventilated patients. The facility cannot function without efficient medical equipment, mainly serviceable respirators. The tables on which the ventilators stand was originally equipped with adjustable booms, with plastic handles-pendants that hold the tube leading air to the lungs of the patient. Unfortunately, during repeated procedures with the patient, the handles-pendants wear out. TUL Faculty of Mechanical Engineering came to the rescue, producing the necessary specialized fixtures using 3D technology. TUL is also participating in the 'Zostań Super Zakrętakiem' campaign. This is an ecological project which, by collecting bottle caps, supports the charges of the Lodz Hospice in making their dreams come true. Caps can be left at designated locations at the university or directly at the Office for Persons with Disabilities; they are then collected by BON staff and picked up by the Hospice.
Lodz University of Technology has an Academic Trust Centre, which works with an addiction therapist, coach, psychologist, providing specialized educational and psycho-preventive support. It is an initiative implemented by the Office for Persons with Disabilities, in which individual psychological consultations are offered free of charge for students, doctoral candidates, graduates and employees of TUL. The Centre offers development-oriented sessions, psychological short-term support, emergency assistance. Meetings with a psychologist take place either in person at BON or online. As part of this initiative, there were approximately 20 consultations per week during the 2021/22 academic year. Additional support from a psychiatrist was also put in place during this period. Students with disabilities used coaching sessions (approx. 6 hours a week), workshops on communication, emotion management, and art therapy.
Students and employees TUL participate in many physical activities organized by the university. In autumn and spring, cycle rallies are organized on routes of varying length and difficulty. Every year, in late spring there are also running competitions — the Rector's Cup run. This sporting event has been held since the 80's. Approximately 800 people attend the event annually. In the academic year 2021/22, due to Covid-19, the event was not held. However, Cooper tests were carried out for more than 300 people. In total, 16 sports events were held for students in the academic year 2021/22 (e.g., TUL Table Tennis Championships, Fitness Marathon, time climbing on the climbing wall), attended by over 1500 people. Sports activities for employees (swimming, fitness, stretching and stabilization, healthy spine, pilates, etc.) were also launched, which were used by about 200 people in the academic year 2021/22.
Honey is a natural product with high nutritional value and health-promoting properties. However, a significant proportion of bioactive compounds do not reach the intestine due to their high lability and degradation due to low pH of stomach acids. Scientists from the Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Sciences at TUL have encapsulated the result of bees' work. They obtained a fixed honey preparation in the form of microcapsules, using the spray drying method. They produced innovative honey microcapsules using natural biopolymers. An innovative method used for the first time in the world allowed to reduce the loss of bioactive compounds found in honey, resulting from the destructive effects of gastric juice and digestive enzymes. Studies have shown broad health-promoting effects of developed microcapsules. The developed method of fixing honey by its encapsulation is protected by patent application. Possibilities of encapsulation of other bee products, i.e., royal jelly, bee venom and other raw materials with high bioactive potential, are also being investigated. More information.
Complete hip replacement is one of the most performed implant operations in the world. One of the main problems during surgery is measuring whether there has been a change in the position of the femur. The difference in the length of the lower limbs is among the postoperative complications that reduce the expected improvement in quality of life. The Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Robotic Medical Solutions Sp. z o.o. have cooperated on the development of a new product - an orthopedic miniature measuring arm for intraoperative measurements. The
purpose of this collaboration is to design, implement and manufacture an innovative medical device. As part of the project, metrological studies and medical experiments will be carried out to develop the design and software of an orthopedic miniature measuring arm useful during hip replacement implantation surgery. It will be designed to measure the change in length and offset to the side of the lower limb. More information.
Chronic wounds are caused by a prolonged inflammatory phase during the healing process, which consequently prevents skin regeneration. Dedicated wound dressings are helpful in these situations, which are able not only to protect them from the environment, but also to promote skin regeneration and accelerate the healing process. Scientists from the Faculty of Chemistry at TUL are taking part in an international research project aimed at creating a dressing for skin wounds that promotes the healing process and releases antimicrobial peptides against a group of major bacterial and fungal pathogens that are relevant in nosocomial infections. The designed material opens new directions for next-generation dressing materials, tailored for different types of wounds and to combat life-threatening infections with specialized drugs and thus new treatment concepts that greatly improve wound healing. The partners of the project alongside scientists from the Faculty of Chemistry and the International Centre for Research of Innovative Biomaterials (ICRI-BIOM) of Lodz University of Technology are: Medical University of Lublin, Ulm University (Germany), coordinator of the German side and Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (Germany).
Chronic and intense stress negatively affects the immune system and causes mental and physical health problems. The WHO has called stress a “21st century health epidemic.” Recent research has shown that VR can redefine psychological treatment, creating environments that help patients cope with experiences that are the source of mental crises. Researchers from the Faculty of Electrical, Electronic, Computer and Control Engineering at TUL coordinate the Erasmus+ project “VRxAnny”, whose main goal is to improve the well-being of students suffering from acute, episodic and chronic stress as well as fears and depressive symptoms. The main result of the project will be the creation of special relaxation points, so-called “chill spots”, located on the campuses of all partner universities, equipped with a VR system for stress and anxiety reduction. Ultimately, as many as 12 such innovative VR relaxation zones will be created at partner universities, which will be able to serve up to a dozen thousand students a year. In these unique places, students will be able to relax in the virtual world. A team of researchers from Lodz University of Technology, the University of Lodz, the University of Vigo (Spain) and the University of Tartu (Estonia) are developing a VR application that is designed to be a relaxation workout.
In cooperation with Lodz University of Technology with the spin-off company Angionica, the unique medical device AngioExpert was created for non-invasive diagnosis of vascular circulatory disorders. The device is a response to the needs of diagnosing the health of our society. The basis of the operation of the device is the use of an innovative method developed by scientists from the Faculty of Chemistry, TUL and Collegium Medicum. The method is based on measuring changes in fluorescence intensity of NADH coenzyme in the skin of the forearm in response to forced stop and release of blood flow. This innovative method, which has worldwide applications, has been patented in Poland, but also in the EU, USA, Canada, China, Japan, Australia, Russia. The most important applications of the developed method include: assessment of microcirculation disorders in diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases and hypertension, monitoring of treatment of difficult healing wounds (including diabetic foot), or assessment of tolerance of physical exertion in amateur and competitive sports. Research using the AngioExpert device is not yet widely available, but in Lodz they are conducted in two medical centers: at the Policlinic Medical Center of the Lodz University of Technology Foundation and in the Medical Center of the Holly Family Hospital.
Researchers from the Faculty of Faculty of Electrical, Electronic, Computer and Control Engineering, in cooperation with the Institute of Psychology of the University of Lodz, have developed an innovative tool for stress reduction.
Thanks to cooperation with the City Hall, it can help refugees from Ukraine to fight post-war trauma. The pilot programme started on April 7, 2022 at the Urban Activity Bureau in Lodz. 40 people were invited to participate in the programme. Each session lasted about 20 minutes, during which participants moved to a luxurious suite in the mountains, where the guide's calm voice gave basic information about the visual elements of their surroundings and how to breathe during the session. A version in Ukrainian was prepared. The session combines several classic relaxation techniques such as visualization and breathing techniques. It works much like the REM phase of sleep.
Virtual reality has been used for several years as a therapeutic method for stress reduction, treatment of depression, phobias or anxiety disorders. Its beneficial action has been proven more than once scientifically, also by a team of scientists from the Faculty of Electrical, Electronic, Computer and Control Engineering, TUL.
Movement disability carries severe consequences for an increasingly large part of society. In addition, in the near future, a significant increase in the burden on the health care system is anticipated, associated with an increase in life expectancy. Accordingly, it is necessary to look for effective ways to rehabilitate patients. Therapy assisted by lower limb exoskeletons is increasingly popular, but there are still many problems that are important in terms of minimizing the costs of implementing proposed solutions as well as their adaptation to individual needs of users while maintaining universality. A team of scientists from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, which is conducting work on the exoskeleton of the lower limbs for the early rehabilitation of patients, comes to the rescue. The research uses modern tools such as a motion capture system or ground reaction force platform, purchased through funding from the OPUS grant granted by the National Science Centre. Based on recorded kinematics and dynamics of normal gait, as well as electrical activity of muscles during walking, mathematical models of the gait pattern were developed, which were implemented in the exoskeleton control system. A dedicated simulation model has also been developed, which aims to visualize changes in the position of individual elements of the device during movement implemented according to the proposed patterns. The research is mainly aimed at rehabilitation applications, but the experience gathered during the project will also be able to be used, for example, in the construction of bipedal robots or exoskeletons intended for military and industrial use.
In the era of the pandemic, forced to stay at home, we often neglected physical activity, which had a negative impact on our health and well-being. In response to this problem, a mobile application programming competition was organized at the Faculty of Technical Physics, Information Technology and Applied Mathematics. It was attended by 110 participants - students of Applied Computer Science and Information Technology, including exchange students from Portugal. Their task was to create applications that support physical development. The competition organizers expected to design mobile apps that would act as a motivator to get fit. 45 projects were influenced by the competition; the top 10 were selected for the final. The jury took into account the technical and business layer, as well as practicality and social usefulness. The sponsor of the technology part was BinarApps. The top prize was won by Fit Vein, which is a social-fitness app for iOS mobile devices. It is a product that makes it easy to carry out workouts, track progress, monitor current health parameters and share updates along the lines of Facebook or Instagram. In addition, the user is rewarded with new profile levels and medals for carrying out various activities in the app.