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Vacuum Medical Device for Safe and Gentle Cervix Grasping Gynecological Applications

Project description

Goodbye forceps, hello gentle vacuum suction for common gynaecological procedures

Intrauterine devices (IUDs) are the most effective form of birth control apart from sterilisation and abstinence. Despite this fact, they are avoided by a large percentage of women, due to complications with placement including pain, bleeding and cross-contamination. The EU-funded Aspivix project is bringing a revolutionary surgical instrument to market to replace the tenaculum, the common cervical forceps. The Aspivix is a single-use device that relies on a gentle vacuum suction pad to steady the cervix during gynaecological procedures including IUD placement. Not only will it reduce discomfort and risks for patients, but it will also simplify and speed up the placement procedure, thus providing additional financial benefits.

Objective

For years, gynecologist practices related to Intra-Uterine Contraceptive Device (IUD) insertions, curettage and several other common indications, have featured poor care and low attention to female patients.
The use of the Tenaculum, grasping and pulling on the cervix, inside the vaginal cavity, proved to be painful and traumatic for 84% of the women, and eventually to trigger lesions and bleeding in 29% of the patients, as well as cross-contamination in 5-10% of the women. These disadvantages refrain the use of IUD contraceptive which exacerbates the unintended pregnancies, sized yearly in 85 mills and representing billions of euros in social costs worldwide.
In response, we have developed Aspivix, a new disruptive gynecological device that reduces the pain and eradicates the bleeding during the exploration procedure. Our patented device will replace the Tenaculum forceps, unchanged for over 100 years, to provide gynecologists an easy-to-use device where gentle and firm cervix uterus grasping and traction is needed. Thus, our device will facilitate the adoption of IUD, which could avoid up to 8% of unintended pregnancies and reduce derived social costs. Besides, Aspivix is intended for a single use which prevents the risk of contamination and cross-infection. Overall, Aspivix has the potential to shorten the intervention procedure (2 steps instead 7), which will represent for the physician a 28% economic benefit. As result, Aspivix will fulfill the needs of more than 64 M of women worldwide/year, a market that is projected to grow at a CAGR2016-2021 of ~6.5% due to the high demand of IUD insertions and is valued in more than €385M.

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

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SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) H2020-EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020

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Coordinator

ASPIVIX SA
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 2 492 068,25
Address
CHEMIN DU CLOSEL 5
1020 RENENS
Switzerland

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SME

The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.

Yes
Region
Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzera Région lémanique Vaud
Activity type
Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 3 560 097,50
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