Paul Verhaert Award

In October 2022, Belgian Minister of Public Health, Frank Vandenbroucke, allocated 10 million euros to improve support for young people with eating disorders and their families in their recovery journey. Here.o offers a comprehensive solution to address this issue, aiming to streamline the mental health sector by using digital tools to enhance therapy sessions, potentially shortening treatment plans. This solution gives young patients with eating disorders access to a set of tools including an app, a smart stress ball, and a sharing platform to promote autonomy and adherence to personalized recovery plans. The platform also facilitates efficient communication among stakeholders, leading to more effective and shorter therapy sessions.

ivvy is a product solution to replace the infusion stand that ensures that intravenous treatments can be tailored to the needs of patients and home health care nurses. ivvy consists of a portable sleeve, an infusion pump and software. The portable sleeve is subtle and provides optimal mobility. The infusion pump has a minimal interface and is intuitive to operate by both the home care nurse and the patient. Data from the infusion pump is transmitted to the software used by home nurses, allowing treatment to be monitored remotely. ivvy contributes to a safer feeling for patients and a more efficient working method for home nurses.

Son-mat consists of a combination of physical and digital tools that provide guidance to ferment food products in a healthy and safe way. It advises the user through the entire fermentation process and the complementary mobile application provides inspiration for recipes and shows the various possibilities of fermentation. The user is guided in finding the right salt levels and the ideal fermentation time. By mapping out the most important parameters for safety and taste experience of the final product, not only are tasty and safe fermentations created, but the user can reproduce all creations again using the recorded values.

Tiërra is a product set for garden owners to make their own microbial soil improver. By applying Tiërra you increase the amount of microorganisms in the soil and thus also its health. The operation is based on a traditional agricultural method to improve soil. The main ingredient of the formula is the so-called Indigenous Microorganisms, which are extracted from the soil with a bait. The result is a freshly-made, organic remedy that’s more beneficial than similar ready-to-use versions of it. The microorganisms in this agent are more abundant and have a much higher chance of survival after being applied to the soil.

Myoo is a product-service combination that supports young people with chronic bowel disease to confidently and consciously take charge of their own health. With smart mirror technology and multidose drug dispensing, the care and responsibilities for a chronic disease are given a place in their own world. Myoo will be enriched with Myoo Pods, fractionated medication bags, and My Myoo, an online user platform. The product-service combination changes the way young people deal with their illness and how they experience it.

‘Fascinating’ (or ‘Boeiend’ in Dutch) is a product-service combination consisting of an application, wristband and interactive swimming line. Through a unique combination of these 3 items, swimmers will be personal entertained and guided in the swimming pool. The needs and wishes of every swimmer are converted in a tailor-made training program. By the way, the swimmer shouldn’t purchase the product. The whole product-service combination is based on ‘access over ownership’. A training in the swimming pool has never been so fascinating …

O2NOME offers a total solution for today’s problems concerning mobile oxygen supply in hospitals. It implements intelligent oxygen cylinders, intermediate units and a filling installation in one product. There is data communication between these 3 links, which is permanently monitored by tracking software. In this way, a hospital becomes self-sufficient for mobile oxygen supply and the logistics of oxygen bottles is optimized.

Every generation is responsible to preserve art treasures from all over the centuries. With the current changes of our climate, we have to pay attention to the environment in which these works of art are stored. To prevent damage it’s important to map the parameters that have an impact on the degradation process of artworks. ModulAir is an air and climate measuring device that can measure a large number of parameters from the environment. The system is modular, so a museum can select the parameters of its interest and create a tailor-made instrument.

Navu is an intelligent bicycle steering wheel developed for the enthusiastic cycling tourist who likes to discover new routes and areas. The result is a sensory interpretation of the influence that the contemporary digital and electronic world has on the bicycle sector. The steering wheel is equipped with an integrated navigation system that guides the cyclist in an intuitive and tangible way. The corresponding smartphone application ensures that the necessary navigation signals are generated in the background and forwarded to the steering wheel via Bluetooth.

Monodo is a new applicator for the treatment of Otitis Externa, an infection of the skin in the outer ear canal, that replaces ear drops. Monodo is a nebulizer that packs the medication per dose primarily in disposable capsules. The capsules are packed per three in a daily strip. The output of Monodo is a mist that makes its way through the ear canal and attaches itself to the skin. Monodo offers patients a higher level of therapy loyalty, higher user comfort, accurate and independent dosing and a strong maintenance of hygiene.