The first medical device for non-invasive detection and monitoring of infant meningitis: NEOSONICS

Programme(s): HORIZON.3.1 - The European Innovation Council (EIC)

Topic(s): HORIZON-EIC-2022-ACCELERATOROPEN-01 - EIC Accelerator Open

Call for proposal: HORIZON-EIC-2022-ACCELERATOR-01

Funding Scheme: EIC-ACC - EIC-ACC

Grant agreement ID: 190155553

Objective:
Meningitis is a life-threatening disease that can kill in a matter of hours or cause life-long disabilities if not detected promptly. Infants (<12 months) are the most vulnerable population with a compromised immunologic system. Although the incidence is relatively low in industrialised countries, neonatologists only count with lumbar punctures as the gold standard method to detect the disease being invasive, risky and cost-inefficient. NEOSONICS is a patented first-in-class medical device based on high-frequency ultrasound to non-invasively detect and monitor infant meningitis. The hand-held device is placed on the open fontanelle of a baby and, due to proprietary coupling materials and in-house developed machine learning algorithms, detects the level of white blood cells in the cerebrospinal fluid at a sensitivity of 100%. With NEOSONICS, LPs will be limited to only a few patients with infection (and no LP contraindication) that will be non-invasively assessed with our innovation.