The research team led by Benjamin Kern, Reza Behroozian, Till Böhme, Nils Roedel and Prof. Dr. With her concept for a mobile blood analysis laboratory for the emergency services, Stefan Müller hasmobOx“ reached the next milestone in founding a business. That Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK) supports the team as part of EXIST research transfer. The BMWK thus supports outstanding research-based start-up projects that are associated with complex development work. From May 2022, the team will receive start-up funding of around 922,000 euros over two years.
“We are delighted that our idea is being funded by the BMWK. With the help of the funding, we can now put years of research work into practice and further develop our prototypes,” says medical technician Benjamin Kern. “With the financial resources, we can also employ four people full-time who work passionately on our solution,” says industrial engineer Till Böhme. The primary goal in the development of the prototype is to adapt the medical device to the needs of emergency doctors: it should be small, handy and easy to use, as well as very robust even under fluctuating environmental conditions such as temperature changes and vibrations. “We therefore work closely with emergency physicians and intensive care physicians and obtain feedback,” emphasizes Benjamin Kern.
With their mobile analysis laboratory, the founders want to revolutionize blood gas analysis in rescue operations. “When the rescue workers arrive at the scene, the symptoms of the patients are often not clear. This can range from headaches, cardiovascular problems and shortness of breath to unconsciousness or circulatory arrest,” says Benjamin Kern. A blood gas analysis provides the emergency services with valuable information so that they can better assess the situation and start the optimal therapy earlier. “So far, this type of analysis can only be carried out in the hospital. The devices used for this are not suitable for use in rescue services. This is where our idea comes in: The clinical laboratory is shrunk to a compact and handy device and delivers the first results after about ten seconds. This is made possible by a novel, AI-based optical sensor,” explains Reza Behroozian, who is responsible for the electronics and measurement technology.