Challenge
Current hearing/vision diagnostic systems require a patient response which is challenging for the more than 2 billion “hard-to-test” populations comprised of young children, senior citizens and disabled persons. Lack of diagnosis leads to a lack of treatment which the WHO estimates can lead to unaddressed impairment as high as 77% with tragic results. The impact on children is a higher risk of poor social and educational development; on the elderly, isolation and depression with a significantly higher chance of early onset dementia; and on the disabled, a reduced chance of social inclusion and integration. In terms of financial repercussions, WHO estimates that untreated hearing/visual impairments cost society $1 trillion per year with $224 billion for Europe alone.
Opportunity
Social, economic and market stakeholders are joining forces to reduce the alarmingly high percentage of these untreated populations and the resulting repercussions. There are three ways to reduce unaddressed visual and hearing impairment: 1) prevention through increased awareness and safe listening practices, 2) early identification through improved diagnostic systems for newborns, children and adults at risk and 3) increased access to current treatments and assisted hearing services. MindAffect’s systems will directly improve the early identification for these patient groups.
Solution
MindAffect’s hearing/vision diagnostic system consists of a patented brain computer interface/artificial intelligence technology utilizing EEG hardware. The benefit of MindAffect proprietary technology is that it analyses 20x more data per second, thereby reducing testing time and improving accuracy. The system produces comprehensive objective results within minutes based solely on the patient’s brain response to the auditory or visual stimuli. The first two products will target the largest markets for early identification: adult hearing diagnostic system and a child hearing/vision screening system.
Status
MindAffect has received multiple grant awards, including the European Horizon Research grant. Their hearing diagnostic software has been validated by the leading hearing research center in Europe, Oldenburg Horzentrum, and their vision software will undergo testing in the next 6 months at a leading European research center, University of Magdeburg. Currently, MindAffect is raising €3.6-4 million to finalize product development and certification by the end of 2025 and the pre-launch in the EU and US is scheduled for 2026.
Meet the team
Peter Desain
Inventor
Bert Arjan Millenaar
Venture Partner at NLC
Bert-Arjan is the founder of NLC and has a personal aim to advance health. He has over 20 years of experience in business development and growth strategies. His love for pushing boundaries and stretching the possibilities of an organisation allows Bert-Arjan to steer NLC's unique business model and to support the team.