Challenge
Osteoporosis is a very common condition. Among the population aged over 50, one in three women and one in five men will suffer a fragility fracture. At the turn of the century, 9 million fragility fractures occurred annually or one fracture every 3 seconds. The hip fracture increase is expected to grow +310% for men and +240% for woman. Early detection is vital because the highest fracture incidence is not seen in people diagnosed to have osteoporosis, but in those diagnosed to be healthy.
Opportunity
Current measurement methods cannot detect the onset of osteoporosis, but rather approximate the bone-loss associated relative fracture risk, typically at advanced stages of the disease progression.
The cost that osteoporosis imposes on healthcare budgets is staggering. In 2010, European Union countries spent Euro 37 billion (US$40 billion), while in 2015 the United States spent US$20 billion.
Solution
The shortcoming of ultrasound for bone imaging is the fact that it cannot give clear images when used in complex media, such as bone. That’s because the ultrasound waves bounce back in these complex environments, making it impossible to calculate how far they’ve traveled. In bone, sound waves will travel through the solid parts of the bone and then scatter whenever they hit a pore. This issue has been solved by the patented software developed by Porous GmbH. The intelligent algorithms overcome the limitations of ultrasound imaging in bone where waves are scattered making it impossible to analyze cortical bone structure. Porous GmbH solution uses quantitative ultrasound technology with patented intelligent algorithms being able to measure the cortical bone quality to a microscopic pore level without radiation hazard.
Status
Currently finalizing product development and first first in-human validation, planned market introduction in early 2023.
Meet the team
Kathrin Ballesteros
Venture Partner at NLC
Kathrin joined NLC in October 2021. She has more than 20 years of experience supporting Startups – mainly in the Life Science business – in different positions as a consultant and coach. Kathrin is a biochemist and holds a PhD in Molecular Neurobiochemistry. Besides her scientific background, she is also trained as a Business Coach, Team Coach & Team Developer and has a Micro master’s in Business Model Innovation. Kathrin brings expertise in supporting early-stage scientific and entrepreneurial projects turning into valuable businesses.