Patient monitoring firm receives $1.5m investment from AKI device manufacturer

Serenno Medical, developer of medical devices for patient monitoring in a hospital setting, has announced that Elcam Medical has invested $1.5 million in the company and will also manufacture Sentinel, Serenno's urine output and intra-abdominal pressure digital monitoring device for the detection of acute kidney injury (AKI). 

Elcam Medical join existing investors Alon Medtech and serial medical device inventor, entrepreneur and investor, Dr. Shimon Eckhouse. The partnership announced combines Serenno’s solution with Elcam’s manufacturing experience to deliver high quality products at a competitive price, that will enable the use of Sentinel in a variety of hospital environments. 

Continuous kidney function assessment allows the early detection of AKI, a common condition in hospitalised patients that significantly increases risk of mortality during and after hospitalisation. Accurate measurement of urine output (UO) is clinically accepted as the best method for monitoring changes in kidney function. UO is currently monitored intermittently and manually by ICU staff, therefore acute changes in urine flow are difficult to detect. Thus, kidney injury is often detected relatively late, sometimes after it is impossible to prevent further progression.  

Beyond the high death toll associated with kidney failure routinely in the ICU, the recent spread of COVID-19 had increased prevalence of, and death from AKI, while increasing the demand and exposure risk on medical professionals and ICUs worldwide. 

Sentinel’s system promotes early detection of kidney injury, while there is still time to intervene and prevent further damage. It aims to automatically and accurately detect small changes in kidney function, allowing remote detection by the medical staff, thus reducing both patient and caregiver risk. 

Tomer Lark, Serenno’s co-founder and CEO, said: "The investment by Elcam Medical is a strong endorsement, and will allow us to swiftly move toward commercialization of our device. Elcam’s world class production capabilities and experience, will enable mass production and increased market access of Sentinel. Our plan is to begin deployment of the devices in several US hospitals towards the end of 2021, in the hope to eventually reduce kidney failure risk for every patient at ICUs."

Igal Kohn, Elcam Medical's CEO, said: “Our investment in Serenno and the establishment of a production line for its device is aligned with Elcam’s strategy to cooperate with promising Israeli start-ups to deliver products with added value for the patient. Elcam Medical has joined Serenno as a board member and we look forward to taking part in the company’s continued successes.”