Insignals flexes its muscles

Commercialisation firm Frontier IP on Tuesday unveiled Insignals Neurotech, a Portugal-based spinout of Portuguese Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering, Technology and Science (Inesc Tec), to develop a surgical guidance system for brain implants.
Frontier IP will own a 33% stake in Insignals Neurotech, the third venture to emerge from its pipeline based on strategic agreements with Portuguese institutions.
The company has been founded with the support of São João University Hospital, a medical research and training practice operated in conjunction with University of Porto.
Insignals Neurotech is working on wearable surgical devices that precisely gauge the patient’s wrist rigidity to help clinicians complete brain implant procedures for neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s and epilepsy.
Muscle rigidity is considered a fundamental symptom of Parkinson’s in particular. A judgement on the wrist helps determine the best position in the brain for an implant, however the decision is currently made manually by surgeons, opening it up to subjective biases.
Insignals’ technology could also help pharmaceutical firms evaluate the effectiveness of medications for muscle rigidity during clinical trials. Its first device will target Parkinson’s and has already been through two clinical studies.
Insignals claims potential industry partners have already shown interest and is now looking to secure collaboration deals to extend its clinical studies in Portugal, Germany and the UK.
The spinout builds on research led by João Paulo Cunha, a senior research at Inesc Tec’s Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering who founded the department’s biomedical research and innovation group.
Cunha, who is also an associate professor in the Department of Electric and Computer Engineering at University of Porto, said: “The creation of the Insignals Neurotech startup with our partners from Frontier IP will provide a strong innovation vehicle to consolidate the neuro-technology we have been developing for several years at Inesc Tec and University of Porto and take it a step further to the international market.”