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Research & Development Request

Eurostars: R&D performing SMEs with expertise in medical device development and competence in microtechnology, optoelectronics, plastic injection, data collection and analysis and mobile applications sought.

Country of Origin: Switzerland
Reference Number: RDCH20190603001
Publication Date: 5 June 2019

Summary

A Swiss university together with a Swiss start-up, is preparing a Eurostars proposal. The aim is to develop an innovative smart device for urine measurements. The device could be used worldwide as a personalised tracker of metabolic parameters. R&D performing SMEs already involved in the EU medical field, and with expertise in e.g. microtechnology, optoelectronics, plastic injection, data analysis and mobile applications are sought for a research cooperation.

Description

The objective of the project is to develop a new device (an analysis station and a mobile application) to collect, store and share data about health parameters gathered from urine (“dry chemistry” urine test). Many metabolic parameters (e.g. nitrite, protein, blood, ketone, bilirubin, glucose)  can be easily measured with a urine test. The aim is to collect data and to build up a personal smart adviser. Complementary information, e.g. medical treatments, could be added to increase the information available for the algorithm. 
The Swiss university and the start-up company have gained significant experience in similar projects. Their expertise already includes:
- Microtechnology and embedded systems
- Bio signal processing
- Statistical data analysis
- Machine learning applied to personalised medicine.
- Transdisciplinary projects

The Swiss consortium is seeking SMEs (R&D performing SME according to Eurostars guidelines) with interest in personalised medicine, medical equipment and experience in the EU medical device or therapeutic markets. The Swiss start-up will take care of the distribution and of the commercialisation whilst each partner will collaborate in the production phases. The sought SMEs must have relevant experience or good network connections in the medical health areas.
The ideal SME partner will possess expertise in medical/therapeutic device standardisation and knowledge of the European market area. The needed technical expertise is in the field of microtechnology, optoelectronics, plastic injection, mobile applications, internet of things or data collection and analysis.

The project duration will be 30 months and will be conducted in two stages.
1. Development of the device.
2. Comparative validation.
The prototype (device and the mobile application) will be developed to collect and analyse data and to share the collected data remotely.

The partners for a research cooperation agreement should come from Eurostars member countries.
Eurostars supports international innovative projects led by R&D-performing SMEs.

The Eurostars call deadline is 12 September 2019.
The deadline for expressions of interests is 20 July 2019.

Advantages and Innovations

Benefit and Advantages: 
- The product is designed to be used by anybody who needs to continuously monitor their own health parameters
- The exploitation of existing expertise.
- The acquired know-how in the complex research area will allow the participants to develop a new system for possible future applications in other areas.

Innovations:
- There are already many urine strip tests on the market, but none is a complete product that collects and continuously analyses results.
- The information collected could improve the reliability of self-monitoring and aid the early diagnosis or ongoing management of defined diseases.
- A strong multidisciplinary approach.

Requested partner

The specific area of activity of the partner: 
The consortium is looking for partners active in the medical devices area. The requested expertise is in microtechnology, mobile application, internet of things, data collection and analysis, optoelectronics and plastic injection systems. To create an eligible consortium the partner should be an R&D-performing SME according to Eurostars guidelines (https://www.eurostars-eureka.eu/content/eurostars-eligibility-guidelines).

The tasks to be performed by the partners sought are to participate in the technical development of the medical device. Furthermore, they should help to develop a solid business model, respecting the requirements for certification and commercialisation needs.

Cooperation offer is closed for requests