Application on smartphone, transmission of medical data, digitization of images, use of artificial intelligence… Technologies and digital tools are more than ever contributing to the progress of medicine.
In recent years, start-ups have developed solutions which have found their usefulness, directly or indirectly, in the fight against the pandemic.
Illustration with four of them: Milvue puts artificial intelligence at the service of emergency radiology, Visible Patient models lungs in 3D, KInvent markets connected objects for the rehabilitation of patients and Koovea secures the transport of vaccines.
Milvue reads radios to shorten emergency room delays
“70% of emergency room visits require an x-ray, but there is not always a radiologist available to read them, so waiting times.
The analysis is from Aïssa Khelifa, CEO of the start-up Milvue, specializing in artificial intelligence (AI) in the service of health.
Created in 2018, it is incubated at Paris Biotech santé, in the grounds of the Cochin hospital (AP-HP).
“We are trying, thanks to the AI used for medical imaging, to improve the workflow
(Editor's note: activity flow)
of emergencies.
We provide algorithms that analyze the radios, which allows medical staff to focus only on the 20% of problematic cases, ”says the manager.
He adds that AI offers image interpretation at the level of an expert radiologist.
Its software uses algorithms trained to detect a wide range of abnormalities in thoracic pathology and trauma.
The intelligent tool thus facilitates the management of the continuous flow of emergency x-rays, secures the diagnosis and shortens the time taken to take charge of the patient.
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The first AI software in emergency radiography to obtain CE certification, which meets European health requirements, can now be marketed in France.
Milvue already has around fifteen hospital clients (Melun and Jacques-Cartier hospitals in Massy, radiology institute, etc.) or liberal ones.
About fifteen additional contracts are in progress.
In Montpellier, KInvent designs connected objects to help physiotherapists
“When we do rehabilitation sessions, what we lack are objective data.
The physiotherapist finds it difficult to show the patient that his efforts are producing results.
Both the success of the exercise and the progress made are only evaluated by the therapist's feelings, ”says Athanase Kollias.
This biomechanical engineer, rugby and rowing enthusiast, founded the start-up KInvent.
Connected devices from the Montpellier start-up KInvent make it possible to assess patients' progress during exercises.
DR
His idea: to develop connected devices to provide professionals and their patients with encrypted and quantifiable information.
During the effort and from one session to another, it will be possible to measure the progress and the benefits of the exercises.
“We have partnered with doctors, occupational therapists and physical trainers to design force and movement sensors.
A wireless connection makes it possible to assess the load distribution or the force exerted in less than a minute, ”continues the young Franco-Greek leader.
Its six connected objects are manufactured in Europe, in Greece precisely.
“We chose a wireless connection, to a cell phone or tablet, because physiotherapists often go to the patient's home,” explains the founder.
“We have six different sensors.
The largest is a very light 60 x 60 cm foldable platform, on which the patient climbs for balance exercises.
All of these sensors weigh 4 kg and they all fit in a case
(Editor's note: 350 euros each, 4500 to 5000 euros per case)
.
"
The entrepreneur wants to go even further by giving a playful dimension to the sessions: "With rehabilitation games based on the patient's performance, we must be able to make him want to do better at the next session, to impress his physiotherapist!"
"
Created in 2017 by three people, KInvent now has twenty employees and is recruiting fifteen more this year.
"We are aiming for 300% growth for 2021", projects Athanase Kollias.
“There are a thousand clients, physiotherapists and liberal doctors, hospitals, rugby clubs, national sports teams,” he explains.
Our turnover is 1.2 million euros, 80% of which is in Europe.
But we made our first sales in South America and opened a store in New York.
"
Visible Patient digitally reconstructs organs
Sometimes x-rays are not precise enough to determine the impact of Covid-19 on the lungs.
“When the first patients arrived in the intensive care unit, we immediately looked into the subject,” says Luc Soler, head of Visible Patient.
This Alsatian Med Tech makes it possible to model the affected organs of a patient in 3D on screens.
For the lungs, it is easy to detect the areas affected by the Covid and the degree of severity.
“By retroactively examining a first set of medical records, we found differences in the course of the disease between individuals.
We can therefore classify the arrivals into seven distinct categories according to our predictions of the progression of the coronavirus, ”he explains.
Encouraged by these results, the Grand-Est region decided in April 2020 to finance the clinical phase of a study between the company and the Strasbourg University Hospital (Bas-Rhin) to analyze the consequences of the Covid on 1,000 people.
Visible Patient's solution does not stop at the borders of Alsace since the young startup signed a partnership in January 2020 with Ethicon, the product branch of the world leader in pharmaceuticals Johnson & Johnson.
The American giant now offers their technology in hospitals in more than eleven countries.
3D scanners of the lungs are logically an increasing demand in healthcare establishments.
“The models of respiratory organs in hospitals have climbed by more than 20% over the past year,” notes Luc Soler.
Koovea controls the storage temperature of vaccines
The issue of vaccine storage posed a new logistical problem for health facilities.
Pfizer-BioNTech vials should be stored at -80 °, while Moderna vials are stored at -20 °.
The solution of the Koovea company is therefore timely.
The young Montpellier growth plant manufactures and markets devices equipped with sensors that ensure constant temperature monitoring.
When an anomaly is detected, customers receive an alert on their smartphone.
In the space of a year, Koovea has gained nearly fifty clients, mostly hospitals and clinics.
The case is particularly useful during vaccine transport, where incidents are most common.
Launched in 2018, the start-up had already deployed its solution to deal with another epidemic, that of Ebola in Africa, two years ago now.
“We had improved our sensors so that they operate down to - 200 ° and can be transported in liquid nitrogen for example,” explains Yohann Caboni, co-founder of the company.
"It is true that we experienced a short period of overheating but we had anticipated this gain in activity by starting to recruit," admits the young entrepreneur today.
The Koovea team has doubled in the space of a year, from eleven to twenty-two employees, and hiring is expected to continue.
When the crisis is over, the sensors will be used just as well for other essential uses, such as food transport.