Clouds of Care

The Ghent-based company Clouds of Care helps doctors analyse patients’ brain activity faster and more objectively. This results in more accurate diagnoses and more efficient treatment of brain disorders such as epilepsy, sleep problems and cognitive disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, the technology developed by this internationally active Ghent-based start-up contributes to the development of new medicines.

In neurological disorders such as epilepsy, sleep disorders, dementia or brain tumours, the extent to which brain activity is affected is examined. An EEG (electroencephalogram) measures electrical brain activity via electrodes placed on the patient’s head. Clouds of Care analyses the enormous amount of data from such brain recordings and translates it into standardised, accurate reports that enable doctors to work more efficiently and make better diagnoses. This evolution is crucial: the number of people over the age of 60 is predicted to double by 2050, which will lead to a sharp increase in the number of central nervous system disorders. Although Clouds of Care currently focuses on epilepsy, sleep disorders and Alzheimer’s disease, in the future it aims to apply its analyses to a broader spectrum of neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, autism, ADHD, depression and more.

Spin-off

The technology behind Clouds of Care is the result of doctoral studies at the intersection of applied physics and biomedical technology. This led to a spin-off from Ghent University, Imec, and the University of Antwerp in 2016: Epilog, founded by Gregor Strobbe, Pieter van Mierlo, and Vincent Keereman. With the expertise gained from research and self-developed techniques for artificial intelligence, the step could be taken from the academic world to the patient with a unique solution for hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, and university centres. After six years, a solid reputation has been built through conferences, road trips, and pilot projects. An important step was the integration with Persyst software, which is widely used in American hospitals: a successful partnership.

Algorithms

Thanks to the proceeds and a capital injection in 2021 — the start-up later also made use of co-financing from PMV — Epilog decided to expand its technology to sleep disorders. This required some research and an adjustment of the software infrastructure: analysing sleep problems requires not only EEG data but also other information, such as respiratory data. After a year and a half of development, the algorithms were ready, although they are not yet clinically available. The launch of the sleep application is being prepared: a usability study is underway in French sleep centres, hopefully followed by a positive approval procedure and upscaling. The additional focus led to the name change to Clouds of Care, with both Epilog (application for epilepsy and brain disorders) and Somnilog (application for sleep problems).

Further growth

The analyses performed by Clouds of Care do not replace the work of doctors, but enable them to do their work faster: what used to take a day’s work per patient now takes only a few minutes thanks to the new technology. Although there were initial concerns that the technology would replace doctors, it is now being embraced. The fact that the analysis is performed in the cloud also raised questions at first. However, it is precisely the ability to perform calculations in the cloud that is the distinguishing feature of Clouds of Care and the basis for further growth. Why, for example, should EEG data not be taken into account in the development of new medicines? Clouds of Care already provides data-based insights to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in 20 clinical studies. ‘Biomarkers are measurable indicators that can provide insights into the condition of patients or the effectiveness of drugs and are therefore relevant in every clinical picture. Our solution can be adapted relatively easily to different biomarkers, which means our technology has a wide range of applications,’ says co-founder Gregor Strobbe.

European regulations

If developing the technology was challenging, the process of ensuring that the developed product complied with European regulations was equally so. This experience has provided the company with expertise that it now offers to other entrepreneurs. It characterises the commercial approach that has contributed to the strong growth curve of Clouds of Care, which currently employs 26 people. The company’s customers include leading European and American hospitals, as well as biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Thanks to the financing received in recent years, the start-up has been able to continue to grow, optimise its software and infrastructure, and expand its applications within the spectrum of neurological disorders. But its ambition goes further. ‘We are only at the beginning of using data for neurological disorders,’ says Strobbe, who is preparing a new round of capital raising. ‘PMV’s feedback on our request for co-financing is the basis for this new round: PMV’s analysis showed that more capital is needed for our ambitious growth plans,’ concludes Strobbe.