PORTEFEUILLE

Two out of three patients who qualify for life-saving cardiovascular care will never receive it. One of the main reasons is that the tools available in primary care make it very difficult to identify the right treatment for each individual patient, so many patients are only diagnosed once they end up in emergency care.
Pace Locator began by tackling a narrower version of this problem: identifying which pacemaker patients are at risk of developing heart failure as a direct result of their device. During the project we found that the same technology could close the much larger gap in cardiovascular care, and we broadened it accordingly.
Our solution combines two elements. The first is a set of algorithms, built on years of university research, that turn a standard ECG – equipment every doctor already has – into a 3D map of how the heart beats and how well its left and right sides beat in sync. The second is a care-matching system that compares a patient's profile against the gold-standard treatment guidelines and helps the doctor ensure that the patient receives the best care available to them at that moment.
The result is a tool that lets doctors act early, before a patient's condition deteriorates: fewer diagnoses made too late, better use of therapies that already exist, and a reduced long-term burden of heart disease for patients and health systems alike.

In the first phase of the InnoBooster project, we integrated machine-learning algorithms to help identify pathological ECG patterns, which improved both the speed and the accuracy of our existing software. We also built an MVP user-interface, which was tested as part of a market validation study supported by an Innosuisse Innovation Cheque, where 15 clinicians gave feedback on the product.
That feedback changed the direction of the project. It showed us that the problem we had set out to solve was part of a much bigger one, and that our technology did not need to be rebuilt to address it. In the second phase we therefore did two things at once. We continued to develop the 3D mapping algorithms, adding patient-specific anatomical models, and they are now robust enough to enter clinical trials. In parallel, we built the care-matching application that lets a doctor compare a patient's profile against current cardiology guidelines.
The project has produced both a spin-off and a product. Augury Medical GmbH was founded as a BFH spin-off, and the first version of the care-matching software goes on sale in the United States by the end of 2026. The second version, which fully incorporates the diagnostic algorithms, will follow after clinical trials and regulatory approval.
Along the way, Augury Medical was selected as one of the Venture Leaders Medtech 2025 and spent a week showcasing the project in the Boston MedTech ecosystem, where several clinical partnerships were established; the company also reached the Top 17 of the W. A. de Vigier Foundation competition. The project continues to collaborate with the Bern University of Applied Sciences and with public hospitals in Switzerland, including the Solothurner Spitäler and the Inselspital Bern. Beyond the InnoBooster and the matching contribution from BFH, the project has attracted follow-up funding from Venture Kick, Kickfund and Innosuisse, and an investment round of CHF 1 million is currently underway to finance the market launch.