The Antwerp scale-up BeWell Innovations has developed an app that screens the risk of coronavirus infections. The company has also launched a platform that monitors patients with mild symptoms at home and sends their details to the hospital treating them.
Using a questionnaire, the Covid@Home app assesses symptoms that could indicate coronavirus infection. Based on the answers, it estimates the risk of infection and advises the user on whether they should contact their GP. BeWell Innovations does this using an algorithm it developed with the expertise of UZ Gent. The app is also overseen by the government.
The young company has also placed self-test kiosks in hospitals. “They combine a questionnaire with measurements of temperature, blood pressure, oxygen saturation and weight,” explains CEO Alain Mampuya. “This is how an initial triage takes place, leaving doctors and nursing staff to concentrate on the people who are actually infected.”
Controlled recovery
The Covid@Home platform has a monitoring system that allows patients with mild coronavirus symptoms to recover at home in a controlled way. “They have to complete a questionnaire every day and register vital parameters such as temperature, blood pressure and oxygen saturation,” says Mampuya. “These details are automatically sent to the hospital.”
Thanks to this digital tracking, patients and doctors can be assured of close monitoring. The information is translated into specific alarm signals: based on these, medical staff can decide to hospitalise the patient at any time. The platform also makes remote consultations possible via videoconferencing.
Support from the bank
BeWell Innovations is part of the BNP Paribas Fortis Innovation hub. “This is a community of promising start-ups and scale-ups,” explains relationship manager Conchita Vercauteren. “As a bank, we approach them differently to traditional businesses: we focus on the future and not on the past. We want to contribute to useful innovations for our society.”
“BNP Paribas Fortis has played a crucial role in our growth,” says Mampuya. “The financing of a start-up or scale-up is not without risks, and the bank has always stuck its neck out for us. As a result, BeWell Innovations has been able to do its own thing, without being dependent on an investment group.”