The ultrasound probe echOpen O1, connected to the healthcare professional's smartphone, makes it possible to visualize the inside of the body, thus increasing the clinical examination in order to better guide patients, reduce diagnostic doubt and speed up treatment.
Access to medical imaging remains a major issue in the French healthcare system, with only 4% of general practitioners equipped (vs. 60% in Germany). The initial investment remains the main obstacle to the equipment. By making its device accessible with a price that will allow each doctor to equip himself with a personal probe, echOpen wants to massively disseminate this technology to improve the health of populations on a large scale.
echOpen has chosen a strong positioning by creating the first personal ultraportable ultrasound probe that concentrates the essential medical needs for the practice of clinical ultrasound.
From the outset, the AP-HP wanted to support this project, which would provide a large number of clinicians with a new tool to better care for patients. Thus the project echOpen It was incubated in 2015 in the heart of the oldest hospital in Paris, the Hôtel-Dieu AP-HP, close to caregivers and patients. In 2021, once echOpen Having become a start-up in its own right, AP-HP has acquired a stake in the company – a first in the institution's history.
The partnership established by the AP-HP and echOpen testifies to the fruitful relationship that can be established between a university hospital and a start-up: in addition to the permanent dialogue between clinicians and engineers in order to understand the needs and design the probe, this close relationship has also resulted in the realization of two clinical trials conducted within AP-HP hospitals, which have proven the robustness and potential of the probe.
This partnership will continue in 2024, with the deployment of ultrasound probes echOpen O1 in a first series of pilot services of the AP-HP as part of a pre-deployment phase to assess all the impacts.
The AP-HP and echOpen will also jointly carry out the Echo93 project, selected and funded by the Ile-de-France Regional Health Agency, in order to improve the city-hospital care pathway by allowing an initial imaging diagnosis to be made during general clinical examinations in a rapid diagnostic unit in the hospital or in a city practice. This project strongly involves the Jean-Verdier AP-HP hospital and is supported by the @Hôtel-Dieu team.
echOpen Today, it employs around thirty people with a multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals, engineers and software developers. A team of experts in Artificial Intelligence has also been present since the beginning of the company to make the solution even more accessible thanks to algorithms that make it possible to calculate metrics of clinical interest automatically. The company is embarking on its marketing phase with the launch of a new website www.echopen.com as well as a pre-launch phase during the first quarter of 2024, before mass production by April 2024.
Since 2023, echOpen also includes the France 2030 program and the promotion of French Tech Health20, the support program of the French Tech Mission dedicated to the most promising health tech start-ups.
"The AP-HP is fertile ground for innovation. echOpen An excellent proof: the project, driven by a real medical vision of the role of clinical ultrasound, found in the Hôtel-Dieu the ecosystem it needed to develop and grow, with the support of many clinicians strongly committed to the project. With the obtaining of the CE marking, a new stage begins, with the deployment of the first probes in the AP-HP departments. We are very proud to support this start-up, which is perfectly in line with our vision of innovation in the service of skincare. " said Nicolas Revel, Director General of AP-HP.
« echOpen wanted to create a solution to reduce diagnostic error, streamline the referral process and speed up patient care. Personal and wireless, echOpen O1 fits in your pocket and can be carried anywhere, like a stethoscope. It is also the first complete clinical ultrasound solution made in France. Accessible, it has the potential to significantly improve the clinical examination, and consequently the health of populations around the world – including in regions without any other diagnostic imaging solution," added Olivier de Fresnoye, co-founder and CEO ofechOpen.
