Alexandre Anthis - AnastoSEAL

Up to 14 million people per year, worldwide, undergo abdominal surgeries. These involve the suturing and stapling of tissues together and help cure diseases ranging from ulcerative colitis, cancer all the way to helping people manage their body weight (gastric bypasses). Unfortunately 10% of all patients will experience life threatening surgical leaks which appear when bodily fluids such as stomach or intestinal fluid bypass sutures and make their way into a patient¡¯s body. This family of complications remaining largely unaddressed called for the invention of AnastoSEAL.

AnastoSEAL is a universal suture and staple support patch that assists surgeons and even non-specialised medical personnel to instantly and unambiguously assess inner body surgical reconnections during the rehabilitation period of patients. It does so by allowing treating doctors to use non-invasive and cheap tablet operated ultrasound probes to get feedback from the sutured area directly. At this level the patch thanks to key innovations at the level of its adhesion to tissue as well as the incorporation of novel triggerable sensing elements within its structure, gives rise to a technology that not only can assess leaks in record times but is also able to do so before such leaks even occur.

All in all, AnastoSEAL is a technology that if translated successfully, holds the keys to a world where patient rehabilitation is done in a personalised, data-driven manner and complications arising from post-surgical leaks are swiftly recognised and easily handled.