The Netherlands-based Amazec Photonics, a company that focuses on integrated photonics for cardiovascular monitoring & diagnostics, announced on Monday, June 19, that it has received a €300K convertible loan from the Noord-Holland Innovation Fund (INH).
INH is an initiative of the Province of Noord-Holland, the University of Amsterdam, the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Amsterdam UMC, Sanquin, and the Free University, with support from the EU through the European Regional Development Fund.
INH provides convertible loans to companies that need financing to prove new ideas and concepts, the so-called ‘Proof-of-Concept’ phase.
Currently, INH manages two funds: a fund for innovative starters supported by the RVO, and a fund for academic starters supported by ERDF.
Developing a better cardiovascular diagnosis for patients
Amazec mentions in a statement that cardiovascular and circulatory diseases are the major cause of death globally. Cardiac output and Ejection Fraction measurements are used to make a crucial diagnosis. However, current techniques of gathering this information are either intrusive or inaccurate.
This is where Amazec Photonics looks to make a difference.
Founded in 2021 by Ton Backx, Erik Korsten, Arthur Bouwman, and Pim Kat, the company intends to employ integrated photonics to enable measurements that are so precise that changes in the blood’s temperature in an artery can be tracked down to 0.0001 degrees via radiant heat transfer.
As a result, the method is generally applicable for non-invasive measurements using a sensor that simply has to be applied to the skin.
Amazec Photonics is developing a non-invasive medical technology for the accurate measurement of cardiac performance based on thermodilution, using a sensor system consisting of a fibre optic sensor and an integrated photonics-based diagnosis and monitoring unit.
In a company statement translated from Dutch, Wouter Keij, Fund Manager of (INH), says, “Because Amazec’s technology is non-invasive, it can be applied to more patients. This allows faster and better diagnosis and monitoring of people with cardiovascular disorders.”
Capital utilisation
Amazec Photonics says it will use the funds to design, test, and medically verify its sensor system.
The company will have two versions of the sensors. One will be a sensor that can be placed on the wrist and the second will be a sensor that can hitch a ride on an oesophagus probe (which is already used as standard in many heart operations and lies close to the heart).
In a company statement translated from Dutch, Pim Kat says, “In the near future, this innovative development offers physicians the opportunity to quickly, reliably and accurately quantify heart failure.”
“The sensor system can soon be used in ambulances, emergency rooms, operating rooms and intensive and medium care departments.”
“The system is also expected to make circulating blood volume measurable. This represents a major breakthrough for rapid and reliable diagnosis of the status of patients who have lost a lot of blood. This development will save many lives and improve the quality of life of many patients,” adds Kat.
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