Congratulations you are one of the finalists of the 9th Deep Tech Award! What does the Deep Tech Award mean to you and what was the motivation behind your application?
For us, the Deep Tech Award is a significant recognition of our innovation and confirms the relevance of our technology in the field of women’s health, which is close to our hearts. Our motivation for applying was to present our solution to a wider audience and to network with other leading players in the industry.
Berlin is said to be one of the few German hubs for technological innovation. How do you experience the local tech infrastructure and how is it influenced by the Deep Tech Award?
We experience it ourselves. Berlin is the center for technological innovation, where many bright minds from the international tech industry gather and form a strong network. The Deep Tech Award strengthens and expands this network by bringing together leading minds, uniting synergies and partnerships and motivating others to continue to develop innovative technologies and believe in themselves.
Let’s shift the perspective and talk about you a little more. You applied with your LipoCheck App. Please give us a little glimpse into your founding story and your key motivation to build this product.
We brought LipoCheck to life as a trio of family founders. The idea arose from a practical need that we identified and implemented in our professional experience. Our father, Dr. Stefan Rapprich, told us about the long suffering of patients with lipoedema and that many problems could be avoided through early detection. However, the resources for individual and long-term patient care were lacking – whether due to a lack of time or a lack of knowledge and information. When we were able to bring about positive change with our first prototype for simple digital anamnesis and realized that we had the necessary medical and technical know-how as well as the data and resources that no one else had, we decided to develop a data-based and personalized health app. In this way, we help women with lipoedema to better manage their health and give them easy access to healthcare services.
Why do you think the LipoCheck App made the finalists list and why is it Deep Tech?
We believe that the LipoCheck app made it onto the list of finalists
because our holistic and data-driven approach is unique. We have a DeepTech component that we are currently developing: A multimodal AI system for early and objective detection of lipoedema. It offers patients quick and comprehensible answers to their disease progression and helps non-experienced doctors to better understand the clinical picture. By intelligently combining different streams of information, such as images and text, LipoCheck aims to improve diagnostic accuracy and enable evidence-based medicine where it was believed to be unpossible.
What is the key technological innovation within LipoCheck App and why does it advance the state of the art?
The use of multimodal artificial intelligence has made it possible for the first time to develop objective diagnostic criteria that go beyond lipoedema and to design more efficient care pathways based on data and individual needs. This forms the foundation for further technological developments and improvements throughout the healthcare system.
What was the biggest obstacle in your developing process? How did you overcome it?
The biggest obstacles in our development process were the long development cycles of the technology, which are difficult for many to grasp and, above all, difficult to explain to investors. In addition, we are dealing with a medical condition that affects millions of women but is still unknown to many, as research only really took off a few years ago and care is in a state of flux. Through intensive education and constant communication with those affected and medical professionals, we have been able to overcome these challenges and drive our vision forward.
Can you describe the unique innovation the LipoCheck App brings to the health industry, and how do you foresee it impacting both the health sector and society at large in the next five years?
We are bringing groundbreaking change to the healthcare industry with our innovative LipoCheck app, especially for women with lipoedema, a painful and chronic fat distribution disorder that affects 10% of women worldwide. With our technology, users will be able to upload two full-body photos to receive an expert assessment of whether they have lipoedema, its severity and whether they have any other accompanying conditions. This AI-supported platform continuously analyzes the course of the disease to monitor the success of treatment and generates individual treatment recommendations that make previously unknown data accessible to both patients and medical professionals.
Over the next five years, our healthcare platform will be used to improve the accuracy and reliability of diagnoses and take the treatment of lipedema to a new level of evidence-based medicine. By working closely with healthcare professionals and utilizing a unique dataset, we aim to create a sustainable healthcare system for lipedema and many other conditions and significantly improve the quality of life for those affected.
How does the LipoCheck App integrate with existing systems, and what collaborative efforts have you engaged in to enhance its functionality and reach?
We want to integrate the LipoCheck health platform with all stakeholders. We will soon be launching our dashboard for medical professionals, which will enable digital networking and online diagnosis. We are also developing interfaces to practice management software for medical practices. We are also working on a care program with health insurance companies to make our service available to their policyholders. To achieve this, we have entered into strategic partnerships with leading medical professionals and clinics, which enables us to continuously update the app with the latest medical knowledge and ensure that it meets the requirements of patients, medical professionals and payers.
In the context of AI as well as in the healthcare sector, data protection is a recurring topic of discussion. How do you protect your users’ data?
Data protection and the security of our users’ data
are our top priority. In today’s world, where technology and artificial intelligence in particular are playing an increasingly important role in the healthcare sector, we understand the concerns and responsibilities regarding our users’ data. We are already implementing these measures today:
- Pseudonymization: we only use pseudonymized data for analysis and research purposes. Personally identifiable information is strictly separated and only used for authorized purposes.
- Secure infrastructure: Our IT infrastructure meets the highest security standards and is regularly reviewed and updated.
- Clear data protection guidelines: Transparent and comprehensible data protection guidelines inform our users about what data we collect, how we use it and what control options they have.
- Employee training: Our employees receive regular training on data protection issues. Only a few have access rights to the database.
We want to implement this in future: All data that is collected from our users
should be encrypted on end devices and only transmitted in encrypted form. In this way, we make doubly sure that unauthorized persons do not gain access to sensitive information.
What are the next steps for LipoCheck, and how do you plan to stay ahead in the rapidly evolving AI landscape?
The AI landscape is developing rapidly. We are therefore continuously working to expand and improve our offering. This also means that we want to expand our team, especially with data scientists and AI experts, in order to have the necessary knowledge and skills. Another important approach we are pursuing is internationalization. By constantly adapting our solution to different markets, collaboration with local technology providers and healthcare providers is almost inevitable. This enables us to evolve quickly and invest more efficiently in new developments.
What do you wish for in our technological or digital future?
We would like to see improved interdisciplinary cooperation, especially in the healthcare sector, which benefits from this in particular due to its complexity. Openness and acceptance of technological innovations are just as important as more venture capital investment in the digital future.
What advice would you like to pass to young entrepreneurs and tech innovators who want to reach their goals and maybe also want to take part in the Deep Tech Award 2025? Since out of 100 applicants you made it into the finalists, we figure you have some real pro-tips here.
The team is the be-all and end-all, so build a strong team and cultivate your network around you. Believe in your vision! It helps us a lot to keep reminding ourselves why we do what we do. We always focus on the needs of our users. Because only through a deep understanding of the problems and wishes of your target group can you develop solutions that offer real added value. This not only makes your work more successful, but also so much more fun!
Thank you so much for all your fascinating insights! Deep Tech can not wait to host you at the Deep Tech Award 2024! See you on the 11th of July!
