Exciting Startup Session at the Digital Health Lab Day 2022

Health-Trends co-hosted the startup pitching session at the ZHAW Digital Health Lab Day mid of September. A total of eight startups participated in the pitching session, with aiEndoscopic taking both prizes in the jury and public voting. Our team was on-site and has summarized a few impressions for you.

The 4th Digital Health Lab Day at ZHAW with a focus on “Smart Healthcare & Digital Innovation” took place this year on September 12, 2022. Through compelling keynote addresses, energizing startup presentations, in-depth workshops, and a panel discussion on innovation management in the field of digital health, participants grasped the full meaning of innovation in healthcare. The emphasis was on practical approaches to adopt digital health. The event organisers have summarised various key takeaways from the event at the following link: https://digitalhealthlabday.ch/. We will therefore not go into further detail about the takeaways from the event in this blog post.

Swiss digital health startup aiEndoscopic won the startup pitching sessions

Part of the program was also a startup pitching session, for which a total of around 40 digital health startups applied. A final total of eight startups were selected by the organizers for an on-site pitching session. They were allowed to present their business model in front of a large audience in the main hall. After the pitches, a public voting as well as a jury voting took place. The jury consisted of Angelina Rau (Swiss Healthcare Startups), Simon Nebel (Viopas Venture Consulting), Stefan Lienhard (Digital Health Center Bülach) and Matthias Mettler (Health-Trends).

aiEndoscopic won the first prize in both public voting and jury voting. Philippe Ganz, CEO and Co-Founder of aiEndoscopic, was therefore honoured to receive several attractive prizes from Health-Trends, among others. Health-Trends rewarded the double winner with a copy of the Swiss Digital Health VC Report and a social media package. Part of this package is also to report about aiEndoscopic here in this blog post.

aiEndoscopic combines AI and robotic endoscopes to simplify endoscopic processes

aiEndoscopic is a startup that emerged from a joint project between USZ, UZH and ETH. The goal of this company is to simplify or even autonomise complex endoscopic processes by combining artificial intelligence and robotic endoscopes.

The first application of this platform technology is intuBot, an assistive device for easier and safer tracheal intubation. Tracheal intubation is a standard life-saving and life-sustaining procedure, but its success is still dangerously dependent on the skill of the user. intuBot will be the first device to actively assist the user, with the help of AI, allowing even inexperienced users to intubate successfully. In this way, patient damage can be reduced, follow-up costs saved and lives saved. Further information can also be found under the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PWQSIVSXH8

With this technology, aiEndoscopic is pursuing the goal of providing support for the first time in emergency situations, which occur in rescue situations or in intensive care units of hospitals. The company is currently developing a working manikin prototype as part of an Innosuisse project and plans to conduct the first clinical trial in early 2023. The company is also in the process of seed financing, which is expected to be completed this quarter.