Rory Hynes, Enterprise Equity Venture Capital Group; Gillian Buckley, Western Development Fund; David Toohey, Syncrophi; and Paul Dullaghan, AIB
Syncrophi Systems, a Galway company that has invented a wireless patient monitoring system, has received €1m in seed funding from the AIB Seed Fund and the Western Investment Fund.
The investment was co-ordinated by Enterprise Equity Venture Capital on behalf of AIB and the Western Development Commission on behalf of the Western Investment Fund.
The total investment in Syncrophi is €1m and the funding has enabled Syncrophi to bring to market its wireless patient monitoring system, the KEWS100, a system which allows patient vital-sign trends to be continuously monitored via a lightweight wireless module while they move about in hospital.
Addressing a gap in the market, the KEWS100 allows greater flexibility to patient management and reduces the investment and running costs associated with multiple fixed bedside monitors.
How the Syncrophi system works
Patient location is known at all times for ease of care and speed of response and patients are no longer tied to their beds, but free to ambulate safely with wireless location tracking. The system can interface with a centralised nurses’ station so clinicians can observe and monitor the condition of patients while away from the bedside.
The continuous monitoring of patient vital-sign trends (heart rate, temperature, blood pressure, respiration, oxygen saturation) is in direct support of the Early Warning Scorecard protocols now being implemented as ‘best practice’ across Ireland and in many advanced national healthcare systems elsewhere, such as the UK. Continuous, real-time monitoring can mean earlier detection of impending patient relapses, which enhances patient safety and well-being while avoiding the consequent treatment and drug cost.
In addition, the system also facilitates quality medical research, reducing pressure on research staff, minimising patient disturbances and providing high quality data on five vital signs in an easily analysable archive. With its flexible deployment options it can help improve patient flow and reduce bed-blocking in busy hospital environments. KEWS 100 may be implemented in a variety of acute and step down settings such as accident and emergency, medical wards, post-operation wards, recovery wards, medical assessment units and day procedure units.
“This seed capital round has enabled us to bring KEWS100 to market at an opportune time,” said David Toohey, CEO, Synchrophi Systems.
“We have received tremendously positive feedback from frontline customers and significant interest from potential distribution partners in Ireland and overseas.
“We believe that our product addresses an important support need at a time of great change in the delivery of healthcare services,” Toohey added.
The KEWS100 is now being installed in the Galway Clinic with further imminent implementations in a number of medical facilities in Ireland and the UK.
