| Trendlines Medical Singapore said it established four medical technology start-up companies in 2018 for a total of six start-ups since its inception in February 2017. Trendlines Medical Singapore is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore-listed Trendlines Group, an Israeli-based investment and innovation commercialisation company focused on early-stage, high growth medical and agricultural technologies. One of the recently incorporated companies, Medulla Pro Technology Pte. Ltd. resulted from its partnership with the National Healthcare Group (“NHG”).  L-R: Adjunct assistant professor Tan Cher Heng, co-director, Centre for Medical Technology Innovation (CMTi), Tan Tock Seng Hospital • Johnny Teo, Enterprise Singapore Director of Healthcare and Biomedical • Eric Loh, Trendlines Medical Singapore CEO • Todd Dollinger, Trendlines Medical Singapore Chairman. Photo by Sua Xiu Kai |
Medulla Pro is focused on developing a real-time ultrasound-guided imaging system for lumbar puncture, an idea conceptualised by two clinicians from NHG.
Trendlines Medical Singapore Chairman Todd Dollinger said, “Partnership is at the core of our culture at Trendlines. Our collaboration with NHG aims to identify and develop promising early-stage ideas to address unmet medical needs.
Medulla Pro’s management team will have the opportunity to leverage the clinical experience of NHG. Additionally, the team will have the opportunity of working alongside experienced researchers at A*Star, the parent company of A*ccelerate, with whom Trendlines established a partnership in November 2018.
"We are confident that the active partnership with NHG and A*ccelerate, combined with our experienced product development engineers at Trendlines Labs, will enable Medulla Pro with the opportunity to deliver clinical solutions expediently.”
Director of NHG’s Centre for Medical Technologies & Innovation (CMTi), and Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH)’s Chairman Medical Board Associate Professor Thomas Lew added, “The intent of NHG’s partnership with Trendlines Medical Singapore is to combine its technological capabilities with our clinical expertise to co-develop innovative solutions to enhance healthcare delivery to our population.
"This collaboration has shown promising results with examples such as the development of a Smart Auto Body-Pressure Redistributor mattress-overlay to reduce the incidence of pressure ulcers in bed-bound patients, and the early development of a real-time imaging solution for common procedures such as the lumbar puncture.
"We will continue to work with Trendlines Medical Singapore to identify more potential partnerships in our shared purpose of providing quality, safe and value-based patient care. ”
Another Trendlines Medical Singapore’s start-up, AyzerSense Technology Pte Ltd, established in May 2018, is working with NHG to evaluate a unique solution that reduces the occurrence of pressure ulcers in patients.
Pressure ulcers are a worldwide concern and the debilitating effects result in a healthcare burden in excess of US$10 billion in the United States alone.
Ayzer Sense will be completing a prototype of its overlay that automatically senses body pressure and redistributes excessive pressure points to reduce the occurrence of pressure ulcers.
The technology from Ngee Ann Polytechnic is now assigned to Ayzer Sense and has been further developed by the Company’s Chief Technology Officer Johnny Chee, a former lecturer at Ngee Ann.
Enterprise Singapore Director of Healthcare and Biomedical Johnny Teo said, “Enterprise Singapore is pleased to note the major milestone made by Trendlines Medical Singapore to groom more innovative medtech startups. Given the complexity of the sector, it is increasingly important to adopt a multi-disciplinary approach that combines clinical, research and commercialisation expertise in bringing a medtech product to market.
"This tripartite partnership between Trendlines Medical Singapore, NHG and A*ccelerate is a good example. By tapping into each other’s medical expertise, infrastructure and IP, they can develop commercial solutions that address unmet clinical needs in a shorter time.”
 Eric Loh, CEO, Trendlines Medical Singapore. Photo by Sua Xiu KaiTrendlines Medical Singapore CEO Eric Loh: “We value our partners – entrepreneurs, clinicians, researchers, business mentors, and other stakeholders. We believe the combined impact of these experts will create greater dynamics to realise the full potential of a technologically focused company. "It is with this belief that we have a team of dedicated, experienced individuals at Trendlines Medical Singapore who work closely with our six portfolio companies to realize their full commercial potential and look forward to evaluating additional new, exciting technologies to incubate more companies this year.” |
Trendlines Medical Singapore is an appointed Startup SG Accelerator by Enterprise Singapore catalysing the growth opportunities for high potential startups.