A PORTABLE DEVICE THAT CAN MEASURE BLOOD FLOW AFTER SKIN TRANSPLANTATION

‘Blood is life’ is a phrase that’s commonly heard. That's especially the case for the UT spin-off Twente Medical Optics. Led by CEO Kiki Liu, the company is set to improve the process of blood flow monitoring with their cutting-edge handheld device. 

This story was first published in the Next Icons Magazine. You can read the entire magazine here.

You and your team spent over ten years researching and developing this device. Why is it necessary to monitor blood flow?

Kiki: “Skin transplantations are not surgeries you undergo by choice. It’s often the aftermath of worse trauma, such as severe burns or breast cancer in the case of mastectomies. All the more reason to ensure recovery goes as smoothly as possible for these patients, as they have already suffered so much. However, monitoring the blood flow after transplantation is currently complicated, especially when it comes to microcirculation. Surgeons often inspect it with their naked eye. Yet, if it goes wrong, necrosis could be the horrible aftermath, but you can only find out when it’s too late. That’s why we wanted to create a solution to make it easier to assess whether or not skin transplantation was successful.”

Why wasn't it made before if it’s such a critical tool?

Kiki: “In essence, Laser Speckle technology is ideally suited for measuring microcirculation due to its high sensitivity to motion—it enables real-time, accurate measurements. However, this same sensitivity is a double-edged sword: while it enhances precision, it also makes the technology challenging to apply outside of controlled lab settings. Movements from patients or operators can easily distort the measurement results in real-world scenarios.

Technology is only useful if it provides society with value. So if you make a great scientific advancement, you shouldn’t stop there. You have to make it useful. That’s true innovation. It’s more than just incremental innovation, like making a device smaller. It’s supporting key technology with findings from university research to make it useful, such as having a laser and stabilizing it. Our core technology combines accurate optical measurement and motion compensation for the laser speckle technology. Now, we can have the first handheld laser perfusion imager on the market.”

Is it already on the market?

Kiki: “No, that takes a long time in MedTech. Currently, we have a working prototype with which we do pre-clinical tests in hospitals. Based on the outcomes, we will improve the device, do clinical trials, and then get FDA and CE certification. The process is not easy, but we fully believe in what we do.”

Once it’s on the market, how would it change the lives of surgeons?

Kiki: “We’re offering surgeons something that has no barrier to use. You see, surgeons are quite confident people when it comes to their work. If you offer them something with a high barrier to use and tell them it would improve their performance, they will believe they don’t need it. That’s why we want to make it as easy to use as examining the blood flow with your naked eye, but with optimal accuracy. An added benefit is that you can use it any time.

The standard of care in the Operating Room is Indocyanine Green (ICG). However, this technology is invasive and requires radiant drug injection. This means that there must be an interval of about 30 minutes between two injections to ensure that the first dose of the drug has completely left the patient’s system. Because it takes so much time, they usually only use it once during the surgery. However, based on research, we know there are a few critical moments when you must measure the blood flow to maximize the clinical outcome. With our device, you can measure as frequently as you want.”

That brings significant health and economic benefits as well, right?

Kiki: “Definitely. That’s a big win ecologically and economically, as you need fewer needles. Moreover, it’s not only less invasive for the patients, but they also suffer fewer complications, such as infections, necrosis, and corresponding re-surgeries. It’s not uncommon for the surgeon to observe and see no difference between areas that would develop into necrosis and those that would recover successfully. However, at the next check-up, necrosis occurred, and then it’s just too late. That means the surgery failed, and the transplanted tissue has to be removed. That has a tremendous impact on the patient’s health, as well as their social life. Keep in mind that these patients have already suffered severe trauma, either from burns or breast cancer, for example. We cannot let that happen to these patients. That’s why our device is so needed.”

Will getting your device to the patient be a matter of luck or hard work?

Kiki: “It has to be luck. But luck is a percentage. If you put in enough effort, luck will happen. You still have to go through a lot of disappointment - that’s part of startup life. You learn from that and become smarter, work smarter, and then luck will happen. For example, getting funding as an early-stage MedTech startup is difficult, but you have to go out there and put in the work. We’re constantly bridging the gap from one funding to another, trying to survive until we get our next one. I’m also very grateful to those who believe in us and invest time and money. They believe in our cause, just like our employees do.”

Is that what keeps you going?

Kiki: “For sure. I know our device provides a lot of value. Contributing value to society is the purpose of life. You need innovation to provide purpose, but more importantly, you need implementation. Create something and make it work.”