Beneficiary: Life Science Inkubator Betriebs GmbH & Co. KG
Funding: 01.10.2018 bis 30.09.2021, 1.859.856,00 €

Project description

Worldwide, more than 50 million people suffer from epilepsy. Thus, on a global scale, epilepsy is one of the most common neurological diseases. It can occur in generalized or focal epileptic seizures. Generalized seizures affect the entire cerebrum, often accompanied by stiffness and rhythmic twitching movements. Focal epileptic seizures are limited to a certain area of the brain and are more difficult for outsiders to recognize. No matter which form of the disease is distinct, a precise diagnosis is indispensable for the success of the therapy. This is where the Tübingen-based spin-off project monikit comes in.

The goal of monikit is to develop a system that recognizes and records epileptic seizures. The new technology will be used to alert relatives in the event of an emergency. The recordings will also be used to individually adjust the patients' medication and thus enable faster therapy success. For this purpose, the monikit researchers have developed a mobile sensor system including an algorithm. The idea is also well received by investors: The Life Science Incubator (LSI) Bonn is supporting the spin-off project monikit with a three-year project funding of 1.86 million euros from BMBF funds. The money will be used for further technology and product development. In addition, the monokit team will have access to experienced experts in the life sciences and medical technology.

The two founders Florian Lutz and Kevin Klett had the idea for monikit during their master's studies. Since 2016, the monikit project group has been working together with doctors and epileptologists such as Dr. Dr. Henner Koch and Prof. Dr. Yvonne Weber at the University Hospital of Tübingen. Initially, the experts were looking for special features of health values that are altered by epileptic seizures. They then started to develop the detector. Prior to LSI funding, monikit received an EXIST start-up grant from the German Federal Ministry of Economics and was funded by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts as part of the "Young Innovators" program.