Extensive media coverage and a positive impact on my academic development

At the Academic Medical Centre Arthur Kievit has developed a method for diagnosing prosthetic loosening of Total Knee Replacements (TKR) in a direct manner. The orthopaedic surgeon in training designed a device that enables the application of a constant force to the knee while recording a CT-scan. With the use of dedicated software the condition of the bone-prosthesis interface can subsequently be evaluated. Kievit’s method improves the diagnosis of TKR loosening which is currently costly, time consuming and has a risk of a false positive result. He realised that this also implied a business opportunity, which he explored during AMC’s Graduate Course ‘Entrepreneurship in the Life Sciences’. His case stood out and yielded him participation at a training day of IXA Pontes Medical, where he won a development award.

He now hopes to demonstrate the clinical relevance in a study in seven hospitals, funded by a valorisation grant from NGI/ZonMW, the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development. With the establishment of his spin-off firm Comforthod, Kievit hopes to pursue other projects as well: “I like to bridging the gap between clinic and business”, he says. ‘Providing a solution for everyday clinical problems is satisfying in itself, but turning it into business means you’re really giving it relevance.”