New Born Solutions presented Neosonics, the first non-invasive medical device to diagnose children’s meningitis
The startup, New Born Solutions, has been selected as winner of the first truly global acceleration program for entrepreneurial science-based projects, IMAGINE IF!, organized for the first time in Barcelona, by IQS Tech Factory, the center for entrepreneurship of IQS , and Innovation Forum, the global grassroots network of innovators.
The jury composed by Julián Vinué, director of Wayra Barcelona; Carlos Esteban, Director of Investments at Caixa Capital Risc; Karolina Korth, Managing Director of Business Development at Roche Diabetes Care; Nuno Alves; Business Developer at Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst and Innovation Forum; and Eduard Diviu, CEO of Sagetis Biotech; selected New Born Solutions because of its innovative and non-invasive technology for children’s meningitis prevention, called Neosonics.
Neosonics reduces significantly the need for lumbar punctures in neonates. It is a sophisticated precision-engineering system that uses high-frequency ultrasound to non-invasively count white blood cells in the cerebrospinal fluid below the infant fontanel, the region of the head where the bones are not yet closed.
The technology helps doctors to detect the presence of meningitis trough the recount. In case of an unusual white blood cells numbers, they can make the following lumbar puncture and immediately activate medication. If the recount obtains negative results, doctors can discard that the baby has the infection.
The technology is also meant tomprovide an important progress in developing countries where the lumbar puncture and the subsequent analysis of results, involves a high cost. Neosonics system allows a direct count of white blood cells, facilitating a fast access to medication and protecting the health of the baby, despite not having access to regular medical tests later in these infections.
The next steps of New Born Solutions
New Born Solutions will represent Barcelona in the next phase of the IMAGINE IF! program and will compete against 9 selected teams from other European cities to take part in the Innovation Forum – Leaders Conference, which will take place on September 22 at the West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge. During the meeting, the 10 finalists will present their projects to a panel of international experts from industry, academia and government, and will compete to win £30,000 to continue developing their business.
The Innovation Forum – Leaders Conference, which celebrates its third edition, will bring together international industry leaders, education and government, enterprises and entrepreneurs who are in an initial stage of his career. The conference focuses on innovation in technological industries, particularly in the pharmaceutical, biotechnological and clean technologies fields. In the last three years, it has contacted more than 700 representatives of business and entrepreneurial ecosystem, creating alliances between them.
All 10 finalists will also take part in the acceleration program from 23 September until 20 December 2016, receive advice from internationally recognized experts to continue the development of their idea and will have the opportunity to participate in the Investors Conference to be held on January 2017 in Cambridge.
The first final of IMAGINE IF! In Barcelona
This year IQS Tech Factory and Innovation Forum organized for the first time in Barcelona, IMAGINE IF!, the first truly global acceleration program for entrepreneurial science-based projects and the Barcelona Mobile World Center was the place chosen to host its first final.
The summit, which brought together more than 120 people, welcomed the presentations of the ten selected teams during the initial phase of the program in the city. These were: Embassy; Enian; iBreve; Robot Social Io; Iomed; MOWoOT; New Born Solutions; NX≈SWIM; Omnicane; and Panakeia. During the final iBreve, a new technology to master stress through individual breathing patterns analyses, and MOWoOT, a non-pharmacological, non- invasive medical device to treat chronic constipation, were selected as runners-up and will compete with the finalists from other European cities, to participate in the Innovation Forum-Leaders Conference, through an explanatory video about the project and the development of a business plan.
During the previous weeks, participants had the opportunity to get prepared for the final and worked in the pre-acceleration of their projects by attending to five workshops about the key issues to turn an idea into a real business, led by industry professionals. IQS Tech Factory will continue supporting all participating projects, in order to bring their solutions to market.
IQS Tech Factory and Innovation Forum promote entrepreneurial projects
Innovation Forum and IQS Tech Factory have teamed up to organize IMAGINE IF!, an innovative acceleration program that focuses on ideas which improve life through scientific innovation.
Innovation Forum is a global grassroots network of over 10.000 innovators that since it inception seeks to build bridges between industry, academia and government. It aims to facilitate a multidisciplinary structure which brings together engineers, business professionals, economists, doctors, scientists and policy makers, by fostering synergy between academia, industry and the public sector to accelerate the speed of technology adoption for the benefit of the wider society.
IQS Tech Factory was born in 2015 with the aim to contribute to industrial development by turning disruptive technologies into business opportunities.
IQS Tech Factory promotes and provides support to promising tech ventures by organizing presentations, workshops, network events and assessment in business development.
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