Beyond Next Ventures, DENSO Corporation launch a new startup “OPExPARK” for Medical IoT

Beyond Next Ventures and DENSO Corporation, a global mobility supplier that develops advanced technology and components for nearly every vehicle make and model on the road today, announced the official launch of OPExPARK, a spin-off to develop the businesses utilizing DENSO’s OPeLiNK information platform. OPExPARK will develop and sell systems that integrate information from surgery equipment, produce educational content for physicians, and offer distribution services.  OPExPARK is scheduled to officially start business in October.

As part of the partnership agreement, Beyond Next Ventures, which provides incubation funding for technology startups mainly in life sciences, develops commercialization acceleration program called BRAVE. This is a commercialization support program for several months focusing on technology seeds at universities and other organizations. It prepares business strategies and business plans in the initial phase and offers opportunities to strengthen the management team and tap financial resources and networks. OPExPARK is a spin-off from the first company that utilized this program.

OPeLiNK is an information platform that constantly provides data gathered from each equipment in the operating theater, which is conventionally handled individually, with data in a consistent format so that it can be used by any device. All equipment information and biometric information accumulated in OPeLiNK is extracted, processed, and distributed to visualize the surgeon’s judgment. This makes it possible to share complex tacit knowledge that can be acquired only in an operating theater, with physicians around the world. OpeLiNK is a trademark of OPExPARK.

With support from Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development AMED  and in cooperation with five universities and 11 companies, DENSO developed OPeLiNK, an information platform for distributing data gathered from surgical equipment. In function, OPeLiNK uses visualizations of the data taken from the equipment to share information that was previously difficult to track and communicate widely among medical teams. OPeLiNK has been installed at Hiroshima University Hospital, Shinshu University Hospital, and Tokyo Women’s Medical University Hospital.

The new company will develop and sell systems that integrate information from surgery equipment by utilizing OPeLiNK, produce educational content for learning about the latest surgery at any time and anywhere based on the data extracted from the systems, and offer services and educational content for physicians around the world.

DENSO is a $48.3 billion global mobility supplier that develops advanced technology and components for nearly every vehicle make and model on the road today. With manufacturing at its core, DENSO invests in its 221 facilities in 35 countries to produce thermal, powertrain, mobility, electrification, & electronic systems, to create jobs that directly change how the world moves. The company’s 170,000+ employees are paving the way to a mobility future that improves lives, eliminates traffic accidents, and preserves the environment. Globally headquartered in Kariya, Japan, DENSO spent 9.3% of its global consolidated sales on research and development in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2019.