Sencilia

Neonatal patients (one in every 10 new-born babies) require the most stringent standards of healthcare due to their near-zero tolerance for any medication errors. Unfortunately, intravenous (IV) infusions, the primary route of drug delivery in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), often show flow instabilities that go unnoticed. Up to 60% of intravenous (IV) infusions suffer from a flow rate error, presenting a high risk of over/under dosage that can result in serious clinical consequences such as neurodevelopmental disorders and (in extreme cases) death. The FDA has noted that the risks of adverse drug events due to lack of flow continuity are especially high at low infusion flow rates, where the current infusion systems are either too slow or simply incapable of sounding timely alarms. To address this pressing issue of neonatal patient safety, Sencilia has developed a first-of-its-kind flow sensing device that measures the IV flow rate in real-time and alerts the NICU clinicians instantly whenever any flow discrepancy is detected. The USPs of this IV flow sensor are: continuous and real-time measurement of extremely low flow rates typical of NICUs, small size, single-use, easy integration into existing IV tubes, and instant alarms that can save up to an hour in nurse response time. This patent-pending technology is being developed by a team of micro- and nano-fabrication experts (University of Groningen) and intensive care clinicians (UMCG) and has already attracted the attention of market leaders in the IV infusion industry, who have expressed interest in integrating the Sencilia flow sensor into their existing infusion systems. NICU IV infusion therapy (€500 mln/yr opportunity in EU and USA) is chosen as the beachhead market which will be initially accessed via direct sales in the Netherlands, following which the technology will be licensed to one or more infusion pump/set manufacturers to generate recurring revenue through royalties. The long-term vision of Sencilia is to be the manufacturer of state-of-the-art sensor technology for improving patient safety.