Sencilia: Sensors to ensure safer IV infusion in NICUS

When babies are born too early, they need special care in NICUs. That’s why they receive medications via IV infusions. “Some of those babies weigh less than 500 grams,” says Amar. “That’s why you want to be absolutely sure that you don’t administer too much fluid. So you give the medicine at a very slow and controlled rate, typically lower than 1ml per hour. Infusion pumps regulate this, but are often inaccurate at such low flow rates. There can be fluctuations and discrepancies in what the pump shows and what is actually administered. These flow inaccuracies can lead to accidental over- or under-dosage in the infant and can have serious clinical consequences such as brain damage and - in extreme cases - even death. That inaccuracy of the flow is one of the problems we want to solve. We want to redevelop technologies to improve the accuracy of infusion therapy and really make sure that, for instance, what currently takes three hours for the pumps to detect, our sensors can detect in 30 seconds.”

FASTER DETECTION OF OCCLUSIONS
The sensors developed by Sencilia would significantly reduce the patient's risk, which has other advantages, too. “What it would mean is that there is minimal risk of any IV-related adverse drug events,” explains Amar. “For example, one major problem is occlusions, which is when the tubes get blocked. This can happen quite a lot with the small tubes used for babies, with about 10 to 20 alarms per baby. Our sensors can detect these occlusions much faster, reducing risk for the patients. That means parents can take their babies home earlier. We estimated that we could save about €1 million annually in hospitals with a typical NICU. In this day and age, things that can be in our control, should be in our control. We make sure no preventable error occurs.”

CLOSER TO THE CUSTOMER
When the company was incorporated, Amar sought an accelerator program to propel Sencilia forward. Soon he stumbled upon Imec.istart, be it a little too early. “At the time, the program was only offered in Belgium,” Amar recalls. “However, we were told to wait a while, as the Dutch program Imec.istart.nl was about to launch.” It was worth the wait. “IMEC has a lot of experience in the technology we develop, which appealed to us. Our coach, Bart Nelissen, has experience in MedTech and accelerating early-stage startups. The support was extremely beneficial because all the coaches and experts give honest feedback on where you stand. We also enjoyed the workshops and the community, where you can ask your peers questions. Technology-wise, we changed quite a lot during the program. We were able to file a patent application, raise over €1 mln in competitive national and European subsidies, and we’ve come closer to our customers. Overall, it was a very positive experience.”

DREAMING BIG
That proximity to their customers led to a paid pilot that they’re currently doing. It’s another step towards their goal of becoming leading in sensor technology for infusion systems. “I hope that in the next ten years, our technology will be used as a standard-of-care on infusion systems in NICUs, as well as infusion systems for other vulnerable patients,” says Amar. “I could also imagine us developing other solutions for the insulin pump market, for example. There are many use cases we could dive into. If we’re dreaming big, it would be great to develop a smart system where the sensor communicates with and controls the pump. That’s a long-term ambition. For now, we focus on the NICU use case. As this patient population is so vulnerable, we should do everything humanely possible to reduce the risks."