AIKON Health is to develop wearable sensors for chronic care management. The sensors will enable remote monitoring of patients' health, with an initial focus on cardiac monitoring. In doing so, AIKON Health will build on technology developed by TNO.
TNO's spin-off focuses on developing a digital healthcare solution for chronic disease management. It sets itself the goal of putting patients in control of their health and well-being. Its vision is to be a pioneer in cardiac care by using innovations in digital care solutions. In doing so, it aims to put patients at the centre, improve their quality of life and give them back control over their health. AIKON Health's mission is to develop and deliver digital healthcare solutions for seamless remote monitoring of vital signs and supporting healthcare providers to deliver better care to patients struggling with chronic diseases. To this end, it deploys technology and data-driven insights.
Initially focused on heart failure
AIKON Health plans to initially focus on heart monitoring. Heart failure is a common condition that takes many lives every year; AIKON Health reports that around 15 million people in Europe suffer from heart failure. The risk of death is highest immediately after discharge from hospital after surgery. Remote monitoring can provide relief and save lives. For example, this form of monitoring allows early detection of signals of heart failure and intervention based on this.
"More than 50% of patients with heart failure are readmitted within six months of discharge from hospital. Our technology is able to reduce these early readmissions by up to 25%," says Thiru Kanagasabapathi, Senior Consultant for wearable biosensors at TNO. Kanagasabapathi has been appointed CEO of AIKON Health
Care is often sub-optimal
The care many patients with heart failure receive is not optimal, according to the spin-off. In addition, medication needs to be adjusted with regularity after a patient is discharged from hospital. More than 50 per cent of patients are readmitted to hospital within four months of discharge. AIKON Health argues that many of these readmissions could be prevented in practice. This while admissions are costly; hospital care costs an average of €27,000 per patient in Europe.
The TNO spin-off is therefore working on wearable biosensors that monitor various health variables over a longer period of time. These include variables such as ECG (electrocardiogram), heart rate, skin temperature, respiratory rate and changes in blood pressure.
Dose medication effectively and treat patients optimally
The sensors in question use a unique dry electrode and material technology that has been under development at TNO for more than a decade. The technology produces very thin, stretchable and breathable skin patches that can provide reliable data measurements over the long term. Using these biosensors, AIKON Health aims to help cardiologists and cardiology nurses effectively dose medication and treat cardiac patients.
"This announcement is an important milestone for us. With the establishment of AIKON Health as an independent company, we are focusing on empowering patients to take control of their own health and well-being," Kanagasabapathi said.
Growing demand for high-tech solutions
Demand for high-tech devices that support healthcare is expected to rise in the coming years. Thanks in part to the increasing ageing population, both in the Netherlands and in Europe. Ton van Mol, Managing Director TNO at Holst Centre: 'Demographic changes are leading to increasing shortages of healthcare professionals and rising healthcare costs. With AIKON Health, we are creating a potential gamechanger in healthcare. By using advances in digitalisation, sensor technology and materials development, we want to ease the pressure on the healthcare system.'
The biosensors developed by AIKON Health are based on TNO technology developed at Holst Centre, which is working on hybrid printed electronics and biosensors. Among other things, the sensor is stretchable, waterproof and tissue-friendly. The sensor also offers long-term wearing comfort. It can adapt to any body shape. Because it is a dry electrode technology, patients can wear the sensor for a long time; unlike traditional hydrogel-based electrodes, the new biosensors do not cause dryness and itching.
Author: Wouter Hoeffnagel
