Disior 3D analysis software for orthopedics
Note: This story is part of a series of reports on health tech companies in Finland from a media tour for the technology conference Slush organized and funded by Finnfacts and Tekes — the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation.
The cutbacks at Nokia in recent years have prompted former staff with mobile hardware and software experience, design and engineering backgrounds to build their own business or help others launch tech startups. One such business is an early stage clinical decision support business for orthopedics based in Helsinki called Disior.
CEO Anna-Maria Henell worked for 15 years creating virtual simulations and modeling systems for technology research and development organizations. A medical adviser for the business, Dr. Risto Kontio is the chairman of the department for Maxillofacial surgery at the University of Helsinki Hospital.
Disior’s software converts medical images into 3D images covered in a mathematical grid that’s designed to help physicians assess fractures and pinpoint whether an implant is needed, where it should be placed, whether it can be minimized and what movement would look like. Physicians can use the interactive D images to optimize the mechanical stress on the bone and the screw interface, as well.
The conversion tool cuts a process that used to take a few weeks down to a few minutes. That could also reduce the risk of a fracture healing before it has to be rebroken, reducing patients’ pain, discomfort, and medical expenses.
The focus has been on wrists, ankles, orbital and facial fractures around the eye and jaw. The technology is intended to be used with augmented reality goggles from Hololens.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Although some hospitals in Finland are working with Disior, Henell is also interested in the much larger U.S. market. Working with the Cambridge Innovation Center and Mass Global Partners, there was a startup boot camp in Helsinki. Henell was one of a handful of health tech and medtech startups to be invited to pitch the company’s technology to Boston hospitals such as Mass General. She said the company’s interactive analysis tools resonated with the hospitals she spoke with there.
Another avenue that the company is interested in exploring is working with larger medtech companies. Yet another possibility would harness the company’s tech for the benefit of training medical school students and surgeons in training.
