Knopka and Movesense CEOs Talk about Cooperation and a Joint Project in Ukraine
Knopka is an advanced call system for hospitals and care homes to notify nurses and help them respond immediately when a patient needs help. The Knopka alarm button connects wirelessly to the Movesense Medical sensor to automatize certain nurse call triggers. The system is developed by the Ukrainian medtech startup Knopka (“Button” in Ukrainian).
Knopka and Movesense started a cooperation at MEDICA 2022 trade fair. In this interview of Knopka CEO Ivan Osadchy (left) and Movesense CEO Jussi Kaasinen (right), we share the story of this interesting collaboration.
Knopka and Movesense started a joint project at Medica 2022. How did this happen?
Ivan Osadchy, Knopka:
Let’s call it MEDICA magic. We had hopes of getting acquainted with a producer of portable cardiac monitoring devices at the show. But we never imagined that we would come across Movesense at the neighboring stand. So when we found out about it, we were very happy about such proximity.
Jussi Kaasinen, Movesense:
Our stands were facing each other on the Medica show floor. I went to ask Knopka’s CEO Ivan Osadchy what the company does. When it turned out that the product is a wireless nurse call button, I suggested making it Movesense compatible. The answer was “WOW!”
Excited about the opportunity, Osadchy brought the chief of the hospital in Lviv to Movesense stand to have a look at our offering. His comment was that this is a “dream come true”, and that such monitoring is needed for every bed in the hospital.
After Medica, Knopka’s team was at Slush, a large startup event in Helsinki. I brought them a few Movesense sensors and accessories to experiment and start working on the solution.
How do your companies and your strengths complement each other?
Ivan Osadchy:
We are developing a wireless nurse call system that serves as a personal assistant to nurses, notifying them on their smartphones about current tasks as well as critical patient conditions.
However, implementing a patient monitoring system for multiple patients in a medical facility is typically a complex and costly infrastructure that also requires significant time for training the medical staff.
Movesense sensors, despite their technological complexity, offer rich usability, being intuitive and convenient to use, allowing for instant vital monitoring. Together with our system, we can promptly alert the medical personnel if the readings become critical and ensure timely response to provide urgent assistance to the patient.
Together, this is a plug-and-play solution for any institution where patient monitoring is critical.
Jussi Kaasinen:
Our MDR-approved EKG and movement sensors are designed and manufactured in Finland. We offer open APIs and full access to the sensor raw data to build new medical solutions on top of the data.
Knopka develops high quality patient call systems and adds a service layer to them, utilizing Movesense tools and the data produced by the Movesense Medical sensors.
The first joint project of this partnership took place in a hospital in Lviv, Ukraine. What did you do there?
Ivan Osadchy:
At the idea level of a joint solution, several hospitals expressed interest in implementation. We began collaborating with the hospital of First Medical Union in Lviv, which has a license for conducting clinical trials. In the pediatric neurosurgery department, we implemented our notification system and conducted initial testing of the integration of Movesense signals into our solution.
During the testing and clinical trials, the whole hospital showed interest in this compatible solution – and this hospital is one of the largest medical centers in Ukraine with over 2000 beds.
Jussi Kaasinen:
We supplied the Movesense MD ECG sensors for the practical pilot implementation in Lviv and were on standby for possible technical support needs (which didn’t arise). Knopka took care of running the project in practice.
What role does each company’s offer play in the actual implementation?
Ivan Osadchy:
Our joint solution instantly notifies the medical staff about critical patient conditions and ensures that they receive assistance within a maximum of 2 minutes.
Jussi Kaasinen:
We provide Knopka with the MDR certified Movesense Medical sensors that measure ECG, heart rate, heart rate variability, and movement. Knopka added Movesense compatibility to their solution and uses the sensors to monitor vital parameters of the patients.
Movesense production in Finland scales flexibly to the needs of customers of different sizes. Our APIs and developer tools enable fast integration of the sensor to existing health applications and data systems, including telehealth and remote patient monitoring solutions.
Knopka manufactures high quality scalable patient alarm button systems and the associated application layer with user interfaces. The combined product saves lives by enabling continuous monitoring of patients in challenging conditions.
What challenges did you face during the implementation? How did you solve the problems?
Ivan Osadchy:
We thought that the war, constant threat of shelling, and the fact that we are from different countries would be obstacles. However, our teams worked well together. We are united and focused on the same direction.
Jussi Kaasinen:
We expected as well that the war is a challenge both because of the number and quality of patients and the problems related to infrastructure. However, everything worked very smoothly. We were also prepared to provide technical support to the Knopka team but they built the pilot system very quickly by themselves.
Are you planning more cooperation projects in the future? What kind of?
Ivan Osadchy:
We want to scale our operations in Ukraine and Poland, as well as expand into new markets within the EU, including Finland.
Jussi Kaasinen:
Absolutely, we will continue and expand the cooperation between Movesense and Knopka. Our products together form a cost-effective, scalable patient monitoring solution for both fixed and temporary installations, which will help healthcare providers save lives both in Ukraine and in other markets that have an acute need to establish an effective patient monitoring capability.
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