AMC clinical physiologist Peter Sterk’s idea to explore the use of e-nose technology for diagnosis of lung disease has really payed off. His brand-new ‘SpiroNose’ breath analyser will shortly become available for hospitals and general practices. Sterk is confident about the clinical validation studies that are now underway: “The SpiroNose will be a formidable addition to the diagnosis of asthma, COPD, lung cancer and other pulmonary diseases. It offers a fast and reliable first assessment, even without testing blood or sputum. Since we integrated it with common spirometry, it comes without any additional effort for the patient.” With the aid of IXA the SpiroNose was developed in cooperation with the Dutch specialist e-nose firm Comon Invent.
With multiple sensors it profiles a few thousand molecules in the patient’s exhaled air. These data are then analysed in real-time by comparing them with thousands of other profiles stored online in a ‘BreathCloud’, employing Artificial Intelligence based self-learning algorithms. Although he did not foresee all this at the onset of his research, Sterk was more than happy to put a lot of effort in developing the SpiroNose. “That’s how it goes: an idea leads to a research project for which an instrumental set-up is needed. In fact there you already have the germination of a new product. Because if the research leads to clinically relevant results, of course you then want to make the set-up available for as much doctors as possible!”
At Demonstrator Lab, two locations: @Zuidas and @Science Park, researchers and students from the HvA, UvA, VU and Amsterdam UMC can go to develop and test their research-based idea for a product or service. In the past five years, more than 100 projects were launched, from which 21 start-ups have emerged. Jardo Stammeshaus (co-founder of […]
About three years ago orthopaedic surgeon Olivier Temmerman approached the Physics and Medical Technology (FMT) department of VUmc. He had an idea to improve the surgical chisel for removing old cementing layers during hip prosthesis revisions. It was ‘a real pearl’ according to Micha Paalman, head of the development group at FMT. “Olivier had worked […]
These are exciting times for Dave Koolbergen, congenital cardiac surgeon at AMC. With his company Haermonics he hopes to bring a new technology to market for postoperative pericardial flushing. It was developed upon his observation that after heart surgery often the removal of accumulated blood and clots can be achieved by flushing the pericardial space […]