Munich Innovation to Develop Medical Device for Acoustic Non-Invasive Diagnosis of Joint Disease

Munich, Germany (September 26, 2013) – Munich Innovation today announced a project to develop a medical device based on vibroarthrography, a patented technology, in cooperation with partners.

The project addresses a non-invasive and complementary method to diagnose and treat joint abrasion (osteoarthritis) in an early stage through high-end signal processing. Current methods are either not sensitive enough in an early stage of joint abrasion (X-Ray) or very expensive and not universally available (MRT). Also, these technologies use radiation or are very time-consuming for the patient. Mobile and low-cost medical devices based on the proposed method could result in an earlier diagnosis of knee arthritis and easier follow-up investigations for conservative treatment. Thus, a cheaper non-invasive diagnosis will result in a better treatment and quality of life for the patient.

The technology is based on an invention by Dr. Jacek Czernicki. In 2000, Dr. Czernicki patented a technology for determining the anatomical condition of a joint through a sound signal caused by the movement and evaluated by a spectral analysis of frequencies and amplitudes contained in the sound.

„Noises arise in the human body through movements and internal friction. Analyzing these acoustical signals allows us to learn more about the internal condition of the body“ says Dr. Stefan Taing, Senior Partner at Munich Innovation. „In fact, research has shown that noise patterns can be associated with specific illnesses. Our aim is to build a marketable prototype based on Dr. Czernicki’s invention“. Munich Innovation is the exclusive licensee to this technology.

Munich Innovation has teamed up with CPE and the University Hospital of the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich. CPE is an engineering company for product development and precision engineering for the medical and other industries and has worked with clients such as Draeger, Fresenius Kabi and Roche.

Prof. Dr. med. Wolf Mutschler, head of the department of surgery at the university hospital of Munich, will contribute his medical expertise. He is supported by Dr. med. Simon Weidert who leads the research group Computer Aided Surgeries and Simulation (CASS).
Munich Innovation already participated in two medical research projects, Medability, a novel surgical simulator and Morgentau Solutions, a software for the computer-aided, high precision control of microscopes for medical-biological research.

The research project is supported by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology of Germany with first results expected in 2014.

To receive more information about this project, please contact Dr. Stefan Taing at st@munich-innovation.com.

Munich Innovation Group GmbH is a leading service provider for intellectual property monetization and research on a global scale. Clients include publicly listed high-tech corporates, privately held companies, independent inventors, academic institutions and investors. The company offers IP licensing management, patent brokerage and IP research services.

For more information, please visit www.munich-innovation.com

Munich Innovation Group GmbH
von-der-Tann-Strasse 12
80539 München
Germany

This release was published on openPR.