WIMTACH works with Neuraura to improve the quality of life of patients dealing with Polycystic ovary syndrome

Neuraura Biotech Inc., an Alberta based medical equipment company, is on a mission to improve the quality of life of patients dealing with Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). This hormonal condition, often affects the functionality of a woman’s ovaries. While the root cause of this condition is still unknown, people with PCOS can suffer from a range of symptoms including infertility and insulin resistance.

Although the condition affects up to one every five women, it is currently one of the many areas of women’s health that is heavily under researched. Addressing this gap in research and treatment is the inspiration behind Neuraura’s development of a wearable bioelectronic device to offer an accessible and personalized treatment to women suffering from pelvic pain and discomfort from PCOS.

To enable users of the device to control, monitor and assess information during the course of their treatment, the company decided to develop a mobile application. WIMTACH was a trusted resource for the Neuraura team for this project. “When we had the opportunity to work with [WIMTACH], we realized there was a part of the development when it comes to software that was a pretty incredible opportunity to tap into,” said Dr. Pierre Wijdenes, Neuraura’s CPO.

The WIMTACH team provided funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and assembled a team of expert Centennial College faculty members and students to develop the application. This was a critical feature of the partnership. “As a startup, especially in an environment where financing can be limited, it is always the type of thing we are looking at,” explained Wijdenes. “It kind of all came together as a great opportunity for us to work with [WIMTACH].”

Wijdenes described the collaboration process as smooth. Understanding the time it would take to build a functional application, his team was initially reserved with their expectations at the start of the collaboration. But the WIMTACH research team showed diligence and great professionalism. The project management team ensured to accommodate the company’s needs throughout the development cycle of the application and through weekly meetings, they were enabled to steer the development of their application and prioritize different needs.

In the end, the Neuraura team was really impressed with WIMTACH and especially, the Student Researchers who were involved in the project. Actually, when the Neuraura team referred to their quality management consultant to assess the application further, the consultant was extremely pleased with the work of the students. “I would say to an extent [they were] more professional than even many firms that we have been working with,”. “So, we’ve been extremely, extremely impressed by the quality of the work.”

The mobile application is quite versatile. It enables users to control the wearable device and also access resources on new research in the field of PCOS and other women’s health conditions. Moreover, it aids the Neuraura team with gathering data to assess how people are using the device, the frequency of usage and the type of treatment that is being used the most. All of this information, helps the team to assess the effectiveness of the pain relief measures of the device to determine if the treatment modalities that are available are positively affecting the symptoms of pain that users are experiencing. “So, the app is really important for us,” he said. “It’s not a very complicated app, but it’s significant enough that it requires quite a bit of development.”

The success of the partnership has inspired enthusiasm from the Neuraura to refer WIMTACH to other startups. Wijdenes emphasized that part of the reason why he was so impressed with the contributions of the team, was because of the ability of the students to quickly adapt to the strict demands of the application. They were able to appropriately address regulatory concerns and other requirements. He sees the value that WIMTACH can have for other startups because of the quality of the output of the team, their expertise, the funding support, and access to new talents. He even noted that when his team is ready to hire, they know that they can refer to WIMTACH for skilled professionals. “We will highly recommend other companies to work with [WIMTACH] because if this is the quality that comes out of your institution, those students should have no issues finding jobs,” he said.

With the completion of the first iteration of the application, it will help the company to demonstrate the goals and value of the wearable Neuraura device to future investors. Currently, the company is securing the funds to launch the application. Soon they will develop other components to accompany their device to prepare a minimum viable product to submit to Canada’s Food and Drugs Act and Regulations for certification. The company is still relying on WIMTACH to further enhance the mobile application and eventually, they plan to add machine learning components.

For further information, please send press inquiries to ptyagi@centennialcollege.ca