New digital tools for health, diagnosis and therapy are at the forefront of the digital transformation in healthcare. Here is a list of young innovative companies and startups in Luxembourg to watch.
AkknaTek
IT solutions for ophthalmology
Launched in 2017 and based in Kaiserslautern Germany, AkknaTek specialises in diagnostic technologies in the field of ophthalmology with a focus on cataract surgery. Its Lens Reviewer helps monitor and control all the implantation and treatment phases of intraocular lenses (IOL).
IOL is a lens implanted in the eye as part of a treatment for cataracts or myopia. The lens is typically implanted during cataract surgery. Its Lens Reviewer reduces the post-operative refractive surprises after cataract surgery and can further minimise the need for post cataract refractive surgeries. The solution helps reduce the postoperative efforts after the implantation, reducing costs and additional risk factors for patients, while achieving better visual outcomes for the patients.
The startup was selected for the 12th edition of the Fit 4 Start accelerator programme in December 2021. It will benefit from specialised coaching as well as €50,000 of funding from the Ministry of the Economy, with the possibility of receiving an additional €100,000 if it successfully graduates from the programme and raises private capital.
Url: akknatek.com
Dropslab Technologies
Smart assistance solutions
Launched in 2018 and based in Aachen (Germany) and in the Technoport of Foetz, the five-person startup specialises in smart assistance systems and workflow management.
Its AI and AR softwares provide real-time guidance to frontline workers directly in their line-of-sight, while using smart glasses and smartphones. The IoT and industry 4.0 solutions provide context-related information and real-time guidance, so they can perform tasks faster, without breakdowns and with fewer errors. The platform is also designed to help healthcare staff and surgeons to clean, control and prepare medical devices before the next surgery, all of which is done remotely with AR smart devices and sensors. Its workflow management system can be customised to the team’s operational tasks and needs. The solution also generates reports on workflows that help identify process bottlenecks. Dropslab Technologies serves German and European machine builders as well as MedTech companies.
The startup was selected for the 12th edition of the Fit 4 Start accelerator programme in December 2021. It received €50,000 of funding from the economy ministry and is about to receive an additional €100,000 after raising €100,000 extra capital from investors. Still in a seed stage, the company expects to raise another €2.5 million.
Now rolling out its solution, it aims to increase the number of staff, hire salespeople and engineers in order to grow and to expand in the Benelux countries as well as in machine building, healthcare and civil engineering industries.
Url: dropslab.com
Dynaccurate
Harmonising complex data terminology
Launched in May 2021 and based in Belval, Dynaccurate is an artificial intelligence company specialised in the management and the matching of medical terminologies. The startup helps health and life sciences firms to manage the relationships between specific clinical terms, when processing high volumes of qualitative health data.
Dynaccurate AI, its flagship solution, harmonises the complex data terminology by providing ‘semantic interoperability’ between ontologies, terminologies and vocabularies issued by different sources and systems. “Specific words have shared, exact meanings across different systems,” CEO and co-founder Dermot Doyle explains. “However, most health data are qualitative and non-numerical and are therefore relatively difficult to process at scale with tools as simple as spreadsheets and basic mathematical formulas, as health and medical treatment is based on the words that doctors write on our records. It is therefore very difficult and time-consuming to process qualitative data if there is no semantic interoperability.”
Available via MS Azure marketplace, AWS and Google Cloud (via docker container), Online Web Interface and APIs, the generic engine can ingest mapped terminologies and vocabularies with multiple languages.
The startup was selected for the Fit 4 Start acceleration programme in December 2021. It was granted €50,000 of funding and received an additional €100,000 after managing to raise extra capital and hire two full-time people. In 2023, the company intends to grow and to expand its management team.
Url : dynaccurate.com
Myelin-H
Addressing neurological diseases
Founded in 2021 and based in Belval, Myelin-H is a neurotechnology company focusing on multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease.
Its software technology, which is also scalable towards different brain disorders, recognises brain patterns in a few milliseconds and turns them into a detailed medical report for doctors. It helps health professionals, hospitals and biopharma companies perform real-time and remote monitoring and diagnostics. It also helps remotely monitor astronauts in outer space (ISS, Moon, Mars and beyond).
Its “BrainMirror” solution combines wearable sensors which capture various biosignals; a mobile App, which is used to receive, encode, and stream medical data to a cloud-based software engine; a Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) software, which can process and interpret patients’ collected biosignals in real-time, as well as translate them into detailed medical reports for health professionals. The solution also features a clinical dashboard sharing insights, results, and recommendations with health professionals, allowing them to make timely and remote medical decisions anytime anywhere.
The healthtech firm has also developed a software platform for early detection, prediction of pandemics (COVID-19), and diseases, as well as patients’ health status monitoring. The platform includes a toolkit with armband sensors, a digital microscope camera paired with an app for patients and predictive analytics software.
Myelin-H won the Fit4 Start Healthtech Award in 2021. The startup is now looking for seed investment and clinical partners.
Url : myelinh.com
Nium
Understanding the human metabolism
Founded in 2019, Nium is a University of Luxembourg spinoff that has developed a unique product with which it aims to support the food and medical industry in testing their health products.
Their ‘gut-on-a-chip’ product is a miniaturised gut which emulates human digestion and allows Nium to establish whether or not the food products sent to them for testing are likely to live up to their desired health benefits. By looking for compounds associated with good gut health, Nium gives the product a probiotic score which then helps the food company decide whether they want to continue in its development or not.
Instead of taking 4-8 weeks – the current industry standard – their solution allows them to establish preliminary findings within 12-48 hours. Having developed an associated platform, which co-founder Alberto Noronha compares to a “Google Maps for the human metabolism”, Nium is a fascinating startup which bridges software and hardware innovation.
Already collaborating with the LIH on clinical trials and self-sufficient since its early stages, Nium has set itself the ambitious goal of developing “the most sophisticated model of human digestion”. The startup is actively working on its fist pilot projects, opening its own lab and adding to their first funding round started in 2022.
Url: nium.io
SciPharm
Connecting medical devices
Founded in Luxembourg in 2010, SciPharm Sarl was initially involved in the development of pharmaceutical treatments against orphan diseases. In 2017, the firm also became involved in the development and distribution of high precision ambulatory infusion accessories, including infusion pumps and implantable infusion pumps. Furthermore, it has developed a dedicated connectivity platform which enables safe and secure remote monitoring and distant programming of multiple medical devices.
Its SciMedes Management Platform is connected to the medical device via a smartphone app and a Communication unit (through a NFC or Bluetooth interface).
“The application includes state-of-the-art authentication and end-to-end encryption,” explains Michael Beckers, SciPharm’s Managing Director. “It is also designed to meet Medical Device Regulation (MDR) and GDPR requirements”.
Based in Mertert, SciPharm is the European authorised representative and exclusive distributor for the Micro sc Infusion Pump from Wuxi Apex Medical Co., Ltd.
SciPharm’s products are registered and distributed in around 15 European countries as well as in Argentina, Saudi Arabia and in the United Arab Emirates.
Url: scipharm.eu
VoiceMed
Asthma management medical device
VoiceMed is a Luxembourg startup that leverages biomarkers in respiratory diseases and aims to improve access to healthcare through digital applications.
Founded during a covid-related hackathon, in 2022 it launched its first asthma management medical device, AsthmaClimb, in the UK.
The coaching app offers breathing exercises and feedback for adults who have asthma, through a gamified process spanning seven programmes named after the highest mountains on each continent.
Aimed at adults and carrying the official CE safety mark for UK distribution, the app was developed following wide scale testing with asthma patients.
It responds to a gap in the market when it comes to accessing information about breathing exercises designed specifically for asthma patients. At the same time, the monitoring side of the app helps patients better understand the disease and what exacerbates it so they can mitigate against a future asthma attack.
VoiceMed is currently fundraising €300k, a seed round that is expected to close in March 2023.
Url: voicemed.io
This article was first published in the Silicon Luxembourg magazine. Get your copy.
