The start-up Vigilitech has one goal: to make the monitoring of vital data in animal research less stressful and more reliable. With MARTA, a device has been developed that records the heart rate, respiratory rate and temperature of laboratory animals in just a few seconds without contact - a significant step towards higher research quality and improved animal welfare.
Many business ideas arise when innovative solutions have to be found to challenges. The idea for MARTA was born during Vigilitech founder Marc Zünd’s research time. As a neuroscientist, he worked in basic research with the animal model – the mouse. Monitoring the small animals during surgical procedures was challenging – both in terms of physiology and data quality. Marc Zünd began to develop his own technical solution to support him in monitoring the animals. The foundation stone for MARTA was laid.
MARTA – From hardware to software
MARTA stands for ‘Monitoring Animals in Research with Technology and Application’. The smartphone-like device is an innovation in preclinical research. The test animal simply has to be placed on the MARTA pad for a measurement. The device then immediately starts heating the animal and monitoring its vital parameters in real time without the need to attach sensors to the animal. The MARTA Pad is heated and battery-operated and can therefore be used very flexibly. The device also complies with medical standards and is waterproof and sterilisable. MARTA was specially developed to meet the requirements of modern research and complies with current European standards, which focus on the 3R principle (Replace, Reduce, Refine).
The accompanying web application MARTA App records the vital data and enables it to be exported for further data analysis. In addition, the MARTA app offers an early warning function that alerts researchers in the event of a change in vital parameters. This ensures that potential health risks are recognised at an early stage so that immediate action can be taken.
In addition, Vigilitech offers extensions to the MARTA Pad for use with other animal models such as rats and solutions for stereotaxy, anaesthesia and temperature control for easy integration into existing laboratory equipment.
Vigilitech manufactures both the hardware and software itself. Vigilitech now has seven employees in the fields of electrical engineering, software development, marketing and sales.
No electrodes need to be attached to the animal and the data can easily be recorded remotely even through fur. (Image: Vigilitech).
From research to application
‘I hadn’t planned to found a start-up,’ says Marc Zünd looking back. But the first prototype of MARTA was quickly well received by colleagues from research. This interest motivated him to look into the entrepreneurial side of his idea – including as part of the Venturelab and Innosuisse Business Concept Course – a funding programme for technology-oriented start-ups. This was soon followed by successful participation and victory in Venture Kick. Both programmes laid an important foundation for advancing the company in its early phase.
Looking ahead
Today, Vigilitech is based at Technopark Winterthur and continues to receive support as part of the ASCENT Startup Accelerator funding programme. For Marc Zünd, the vision of Vigilitech and MARTA was clear from the outset: initially, the technology was to be used in animal research, but looking to the future, there are also promising potential applications in areas such as veterinary or human medicine. For Marc Zünd, research is a continuous process that is constantly unleashing new potential.
