Eindhoven based startup Usono is on its way to collect the necessary €150,000 needed for the further development of the ProbeFix. This tool enables the creation of echoes without the holding it with the hand. Usono sees applications for the ProbeFix in hospitals and in sports.
Ultrasound is used to produce internal images of, for example, an embryo. This technique is applied in departments such as cardiology, but not often enough, according Usono. Because the practitioner has to hold the ultrasound button by hand, he only has one hand free, and has to turn his body in weird bends to perform the ultrasound tool. That is no longer the case with the ProbeFix.
The usefulness of Usono’s product is already been noticed in health care. That’s why Lucien Engelen of the renowned REshape Center at the University of Nijmegen wanted to see the Probefix with his own eyes and was impressed when he and his team visited Usono in November: “Sometimes innovations are so simple that it is surprising that they were not there before. Probefix is an example that relieves the sonographer and improves the images that are made. Moreover, the enthusiasm of the team contributes to their success.”
Usono hopes to finalize the investment round (via Leapfunder) soon. “At this time, we collected €119,000 and we have some great leads to finalize the remaining €31,000 euro in the short term,” said Victor Donker, COO of Usono.
More good things happened at Usono in recent months. Donker: “Together with the HighTechXL team, we were at the opening of the AEX in Amsterdam, and we have been nominated for the ASML Young Makers Award, which is a huge honour for us. The number of contacts and agreements with hospitals has increased again significantly. As part of that, we were at Rijnstate Hospital this week, which will now be using the ProbeFix in their intensive care unit for two months.”
Interest in Usono also comes from abroad. “We were able to present our case in the Holland Pavilion at Medica, the world’s largest medical trade fair in the world. And in Belgium, hospitals and universities want to use the ProbeFix during a stress echo procedure in which a heart can be monitored for a longer period while the intensity is increased.”
Usono was part of HighTechXL, the accelerator of the High Tech Campus Eindhoven. After the completion of that program, Usono has taken up residence in HighTechXL Plaza, where it shares an office with fellow startup Bambi Medical.
Main Photo: Victor Dark with a test person for the ProbeFix
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