‘Innovating in healthcare starts with the problem’
Secuped designs home monitoring solutions for people with diabetes-related foot conditions
Different speeds, different worlds and different interests. And yet, partnering in healthcare works out and generates a lot of benefits for patients, care providers, as well as for entrepreneurs. Secuped is designing a home monitoring solution for people with diabetes-related foot conditions to help prevent wounds and amputations. Martijn van de Giessen, its founder, talks about why healthcare innovation starts with clearly understanding the problem. “Start partnerships, preferably before you really even start on the work.”
How do you know what problems you really should address?
A lot of start-ups start with a solution. Secuped started with the problem. People suffering long-term diabetes often lose feeling in their feet. They then do not notice that they get pressure points. They continue walking around, the skin breaks open, the wound get infected, and the blood circulation is often poor. Recovery takes a long time and in serious cases may end up in amputation.
Secuped wants to precede this point. The company is designing a home monitoring system that can detect early changes in the foot before a wound starts. “We want to give people a tool that warns them to contact their care provider. This helps them take action and prevents wounds.”
Pressure points often generate responses to infections before the skin breaks open. “We can often detect these a couple of weeks before wounds really start. In this way, prevention becomes possible before the damage is done.This not only eases the suffering, but means that you can prevent people ending up in that situation.”
“Start partnerships, preferably before you really even start the work.”
Do not create for healthcare, but with healthcare
Martijn says that healthcare is a complex landscape. Anyone innovating in it must first understand what the real problem is, who is involved, and who takes the final decision. “You do not find this out on your own. RIght from the start you need to have people around you who can point you in the right direction.”
For Secuped this means talking to end-users, care providers and partners in the chain at an early stage. Not only to check if the technology works, but mostly to understand how it fits in the everyday lives of patients.
Those early conversations and tests quickly gave the team valuable insights. Initially, they had envisioned a device that users would stand on with both feet. But it soon became clear that this did not feel safe or comfortable for everyone. Many patients also struggle with balance. For them, placing one foot on the device while keeping the other on the ground felt more familiar and secure. “That has major implications for the way we design the solution.”
Two-track validation
In the MedTech world, you cannot just launch something on the market and see if people are interested in it. Validation requires diligence, evidence and collaboration. That’s why Secuped is taking two tracks in its development.
The first track is technical: does the system measure what it is supposed to measure? This is now being done with a prototype, not with patients. The second track is about use: does the solution fit in the daily lives of the people it is intended for? Secuped is working on this with mock-ups and proof-of-concepts.
The first systems will be installed in people’s homes by the end of 2026 for usability tests. After that, there will be more extensive clinical trials. Not only will the technology grow step by step, but also the proof that the solution really works in practice.
Collaboration as proof
For Martijn, the essence of validation goes beyond only the measurement data. Also significant is the willingness of others to invest time and energy. “The fact that they are communicating with us about this, putting in the hours, and collaborating with us is the best evidence that there is a need for this.”
Secuped started working with the LUMC (Leiden University Medical Centre), and applied for the first subsidy. The network has since grown and now includes podiatrist chains, the Haaglanden Medical Centre, Basalt Revalidatie (in Dutch), TU Delft, and many people and partners. And the Diabetesvereniging (diabetes association, in Dutch) was also very important in enabling us to talk to future users.”
For startups, gaining access to healthcare organisations is often difficult. At Secuped, many of the early conversations came through warm introductions. “The beginning is hard,” says Martijn, “but it becomes easier once one contact leads to another.”
Subsidies can also help open doors. Not only because of the funding, but also because while writing the application you can check if you both want to head in the same direction.
Do you also want to validate a healthcare innovation with the right partners?
Secuped shows that working with patients, care providers, and chain partners helps define the fundamental problem clearly and work on a solution that works in practice.
Understanding the healthcare chain
Martijn believes that start-ups often underestimate the complexity of determining exactly where you are in the healthcare chain. Who will use the solution? Who pays for it? Who takes the decisions? And who needs to receive what information?
A lot of people may respond enthusiastically, while it turns out that they are not the final decision-makers. Mapping this takes time, but is essential. It has a direct impact on the costs, adoption, and product development. Not only does a healthcare innovation need to be valuable for the patient, but also needs to fit in the work processes of care providers and how the healthcare system is organized.
This development is being done in collaboration with ZorgTech, Medical Delta, TNO, MRDH, Provincie Zuid-Holland and InnovationQuarter. The programme helps speed up healthcare innovation through partnerships and revolving around practice validation.
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