The Irish medical technology company is at the leading edge in the development of SleepMinder, a pioneering device that provides a convenient and accurate method of measuring sleep and breathing. The contactless (no wires) device is applicable in both clinical and home use settings.
“Despite spending nearly one-third of our lives asleep, the role of sleep and sleep disorders in overall health is still relatively unknown,” says company co-founder and CEO Dr Conor Hanley.
“Sleep is increasingly recognised as a major component of health and wellness, alongside diet and exercise. We expect the market for sleep monitoring products to grow strongly in the coming years and BiancaMed is very well positioned to benefit from this growth.” The value of the global sleep market is currently estimated at around $20 billion.
BiancaMed was founded in 2003 as a spin-off from research undertaken in the UCD School of Electrical, Electronic & Mechanical Engineering. The company employs 20 and is based at the NovaUCD, the innovation and technology transfer centre on the Belfield campus. It also has an office in Sunnyvale, California. The US represents around 50% of the world market for sleep apnoea devices.
BiancaMed co-founder Conor Hanley
BiancaMed’s CEO, Dr Conor Hanley, is an engineer by profession with 12 years’ experience of technology commercialisation. His co-founders are Dr. Philip de Chazal, an expert in ground-breaking biomedical software solutions and Professor Conor Heneghan, a pioneer in the field of transferring health technology from the hospital to the home. Professor Heneghan is currently on leave of absence from UCD and says the university has been very supportive of the drive to commercialise BiancaMed’s sleep technology.
“Colleagues at the UCD School of Electrical, Electronic and Mechanical Engineering all have to work a little bit harder in my absence, but the school leadership recognises that successful commercialisation of technology is part of what an engineering school is about and have made the necessary adjustments to try and support it,” he says.
Making the jump from high quality research to commercialisation can be difficult and expensive but the calibre and potential of BiancaMed’s technology has attracted both international interest and investment. As a result SleepMinder has come to market relatively fast.
At the core of its proprietary technology is a sensitive radio frequency motion sensor that can detect respiration and movement without being connected to the body. The sensor incorporates sophisticated biometric software that converts the motion data into a measurement of sleep.
In July the company announced a new funding package of €6m that will allow it to take a major step forward. This second round funding was led by pan-European venture capital firm Seventure Partners. This is the first time that Seventure has invested outside continental Europe.
“With this new financing we will be able to accelerate the commercial development of our proprietary non contact sleep monitoring technology,” says Hanley. “We are working with several major corporations to launch a range of consumer products in 2010 and the funding will help us fast track this and to continue our R&D in areas such as disease management.”
Many of those with sleep disorders are unaware they have the condition and as a result around 85% of sufferers are currently undiagnosed. Sleep disordered breathing (SDB) is a cardiorespiratory disorder with long term health implications such as the increased likelihood of developing hypertension, heart failure and coronary arterial disease.
Up to now diagnosing the condition has been expensive and complicated involving time spent in a sleep laboratory. The BiancaMed technology works in a normal hospital or domestic setting. “Looking to the future there is going to be greater connectivity between the home and the hospital and remote monitoring will play a key and increasing role in this,” Hanley says.
In addition to monitoring sleep in adults BiancaMed’s technology can be used with infants. Next year will see the commercial launch of Bianca Baby which uses a motion sensor to monitor a baby’s sound, movement and sleep.
BiancaMed plans to develop its business in a number of ways including strategic partnerships. “Partnering is a highly effective strategy if your technology is part of a larger solution,” says Professor Heneghan. “BiancaMed’s first product was a software analysis package for screening for sleep apnoea from ECG (cardiograms). By partnering with one of the world’s largest diagnostic cardiology companies (Spacelabs) we were able to get a product FDA (Federal Drugs Administration) approved and to market as part of an integrated diagnostic cardiology. Some of our forthcoming products are more stand-alone (e.g. a home monitoring device for measurement of sleep duration), in which case it may make sense for us to assume the complete product development and to partner only for sales and distribution reasons.”
Your Mobile Health
Over a very short space of time the increased functionality of mobile phones has revolutionised people’s lives. But BiancaMed has plans to take this a step further by turning the mobile phone into a personal health monitor.
The “Health Phone” will use a sensor to measure heart rate and breathing in a noncontact fashion and will either be integrated into the mobile phone handset or developed as a separate add-on which fits onto the phone. A user will be be able to monitor their fitness, activity levels, sleep and cardiac function and the company expects it to appeal to current consumers of fitness products such as heartrate monitors and pedometers. It will also be of interest to athletes, insomniacs and to those who want to manage their weight.
Dr Philip de Chazal, chief technical officer of BiancaMed says, “Our vision is to provide a convenient solution for people to be proactive about their health as a normal part of their daily lives, using modern technology. Our product will complement and expand the existing markets for diet and fitness and will allow for the first time a convenient method of monitoring your own personal sleep patterns at home. It will provide early detection of changes in health.”