Two research projects in the field of infectious and demyelinating diseases at Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) have been chosen to participate in the 4th edition of CRAASH Barcelona. This is an acceleration program promoted by Biocat in collaboration with CIMIT (Boston) that helps entrepreneurs to bring their technology to market in the next 3-5 years.

One of the projects, Heatshot, was born in the Infectious Diseases group at VHIR by Dr. Joan Gavaldà, Marta Palau, Estela Muñoz and Xavier Gomis. Heatshot is a new and disruptive external medical device in infectious diseases, integrable with respiratory medical devices that, by means of heat pulses (42ºC), inhibits the formation of bacterial biofilms that form inside endotracheal tubes.

The aim of this technology is to prevent infections caused by sensitive or extremely hardy bacteria that grow on biofilms in endotracheal tubes. Intubation is a high-risk factor for infections in the respiratory tract of patients, one of the main causes of death in ICU patients. This new technology would imply an optimization of the use of antibiotics for the treatment of these respiratory infections and a consequent reduction of antibiotic resistance.

On the other hand, the Copilot.ms tool has been developed by Tensormedical, a spin-off of the University of Girona and VHIR. Dr. Alex Rovira, head of the Neuroradiology group at VHIR, is one of the co-founders and the CMO of the company. This project provides an accurate and automated quantification system that helps neuroradiologists to assess active demyelinating brain lesions in patients with multiple sclerosis, a tedious visual process that can lead to errors and, therefore, incorrect treatments and increased disability.

This resource increases neuroradiologists' productivity by four and increases sensitivity by 46%, which may potentially lower wasted treatment and losses in patient’s productivity.

CRAASH Barcelona

CRAASH Barcelona, the acceleration program promoted by Biocat in conjunction with CIMIT (Boston), allows technology to be brought to market within the next 3-5 years. This year, six Catalan projects will participate and will be guided by mentors from CIMIT (Boston) - the most experienced healthcare accelerator in the world, as well as by European experts in the sector.