Project description
New treatment for bladder cancer
Roughly 175 000 Europeans receive a diagnosis of bladder cancer (BC) annually, making it the fifth most prevalent cancer within the EU. The process of diagnosing BC is intricate and time-intensive, while its treatment relies on perilous and antiquated resectoscope surgeries, carrying a substantial risk of recurrence. In this context, the EU-funded Multi4 project strives to introduce the revolutionary Multi4 device and platform. This innovation empowers localised BC treatment through adaptable cystoscopy during the initial consultation with the urologist, encompassing various functions ranging from localised anaesthesia to excising cancerous growths, all within a 20-minute timeframe. The Multi4 groundbreaking technology and its expansion hold the potential to benefit hundreds of thousands of patients.
Objective
Bladder Cancer (BC) is the 5th most common cancer in Europe with the incidence of 175.000 cases annually and has the highest lifetime treatment cost of all cancers. At the diagnostic step, a cystoscope is used. Usually, no biopsies are taken as there are no efficient methods to do so in the outpatient care. If the patient has suspected cancer seen on the monitor, they are scheduled for a surgery. At the surgery step, the biopsies are taken and the cancer is removed using a resectoscope. The procedure is difficult to perform. The instrument used is hard (metal, up to 12 mm in diameter) and inflexible (can damage the urethra). There is a high risk of cancer reseeding elsewhere in the bladder. Up to 75 % of BC patients relapse within 5 years. The related costs in the EU are estimated at € 5 billion annually. No development has taken place since the 1960 when the existing instruments were developed.
We have developed and patented the first medical device (called Multi4) which allows for local treatment of BC through flexible cystoscopy during one visit to the urologist. The instrument has 4 functions:
1. Inject local anaesthesia through a thin needle
2. Pieces of the cancer are cut by the specially coated forceps. Bleeding is stopped immediately.
3. The cancer tissue is automatically transported out through the instrument itself.
4. When the forceps are closed, they become a burning electrode used to burn the surface where the cancer was located and ensure that all cancer cells have been killed.
With the Multi4 platform, the patient can have their cancer treated at the first visit to the urologist. The procedure takes 20 minutes. This technology can thus disrupt the existing healthcare pathways where BC is treated through expensive and complicated surgeries.
The proposed project will develop a go-to-market strategy for this ground-breaking deep tech innovation and empower the female founder to scale the company.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicineoncologybladder cancer
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicinesurgery
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicineanaesthesiology
You need to log in or register to use this function
Keywords
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.3.2 - European innovation ecosystems Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-CSA - HORIZON Coordination and Support ActionsCoordinator
553 13 Jonkoping
Sweden
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.