How SymPhysis Medical's technology is transforming MPE treatment at home

By April Lara

May 23, 2024

Tim Jones, CEO and co-founder, and Michelle Tierney, CSO and co-founder of SymPhysis Medical.

In this Q&A, I spoke with Michelle Tierney, co-founder and CSO of SymPhysis Medical, which recently attended the Life Science Industry Awards. SymPhysis Medical is behind the releaze drainage catheter system designed to improve patient comfort and quality of life during MPE treatment. SymPhysis says releaze is a novel approach to managing fluid buildup in the chest for patients with terminal cancer, allowing them to be treated in the comfort of their own homes.

Can you elaborate on how releaze technology addresses patient comfort and quality of life during MPE treatment?

Our releaze is a novel drainage catheter system that will be a significantly more effective and patient-friendly device for managing fluid in the chest in terminal cancers in the home setting compared to current drainage devices. A key aspect of the device’s design is to enable most patients to drain themselves without the need for a nurse or carer due to the novel one-handed drainage step.

There are two patent-pending features used in releaze to reduce the invasiveness of the placement procedure and to prevent fluid from reaccumulating significantly sooner than exisiting devices. In addition to this, releaze also incorporates a strong user-centric design to maximise the usability and comfort of the device for patients thus enabling palliative care patients to become more autonomous, removing the need to rely on carers or nurses.

The add-on of the remote monitoring platform allows the patient to remain at home for as long as possible, thus maximising their quality of life. The remote monitoring feature will provide patients with unrivalled visibility and control in terms of their symptom management and drainage progress, thus promoting strong patient adherence and giving peace of mind. Furthermore, this platform will provide a clinician dashboard for the hospital allowing clinical decision making to be more data-driven, and enable remote visits thus reducing the time and burden associated with routine check-ups.

Research has reported that given the option, approximately 70% of those with palliative care needs would prefer to die at home, rather than in a hospital or a hospice. Home-based palliative care increases the quality of life of patients and their families. Generally, people with life-limiting conditions prioritise being in familiar surroundings with their families and doing their usual activities. They are not as focused on receiving treatment that will prolong their life as that would likely result in painful procedures and longer hospital stays. Despite people’s preference to die at home, many still die in hospital because of a lack of suitable home-based resources to support patients’ needs.

Therefore, SymPhysis’s mission as a company goes beyond creating a novel technology for treating fluid buildup – it aims to reframe how palliative care is perceived and to demonstrate how impactful a needs-led approach and considered user-centred design can impact palliative care to improve the patient experience while at the same time relieve the burden on the healthcare system.

Does SymPhysis Medical have plans to develop technologies for treating other chronic diseases, aligning with your focus on improving patients' lives?

Yes our initial focus is to address the management of fluid in the chest resulting from cancer, and also other chronic conditions such as congestive heart failure, and renal failure. Beyond that we aim to modify our device to be suitable for draining fluid that build in the abdomen as a result of similar chronic conditions.

The Life Science Industry Awards brings together various stakeholders. Did you find any valuable networking opportunities or gain new insights from the event?

As a start up developing new technologies in the area of palliative care, we try to create awareness around the need for new technologies in this area and how impactful they can be in relieving the pressure on healthcare systems by supporting people at home. Winning the Life Science Industry Award was very valuable in providing exposure in this area, and also giving the company a platform from which to share what we do among the investor community at a time when we are fundraising.

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