VIPUN Medical
Innovative medical technology for gastro-intestinal use and management of medical nutrition
We develop novel medical devices to support diagnosis and treatment of patients with gastro-intestinal disorders. The ANTERO Gastric Evaluation System supports the diagnosis of gastric motility disorders through direct measurement of gastric contractions. The VIPUN Gastric Monitoring System aims to make it easy for medical staff to make a well-informed and faster nutrition therapy decision thus reducing malnutrition and feeding-related complications.
Medical Need
Nutrition plays a crucial role in maintaining good health and preventing disease. Adequate nutrition is essential for the proper functioning of the body’s systems and for supporting overall well-being. In healthy individuals, proper nutrition can help prevent chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, as well as improve cognitive function and physical performance.
In hospitalized patients, nutrition is equally important, as illness and injury can increase the body’s nutrient needs and lead to malnutrition, which can worsen health outcomes and delay recovery. Proper nutrition in the hospital setting is widely accepted as an integral part of patient care as it can help support the healing process, reduce the risk of complications, and improve the patient’s overall quality of life.
Gastroparesis is a medical condition that affects the stomach’s ability to empty its contents properly. This disorder can cause symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, bloating, and abdominal pain. It can be temporary because of medication or a trauma (e.g. ICU patients) or chronic because of damage to the nerves or muscles that control the stomach’s contractions (e.g. diabetic patients).
Enteral feeding intolerance is the inability of the digestive system to properly tolerate and process nutrition delivered through a feeding tube. It can be caused by gastroparesis, has similar symptoms but can also lead to diarrhoea as well as constipation. Enteral feeding intolerance is mainly caused by insufficient digestive capacity due to underlying medical conditions or medication and contributes together with feeding tube positioning problems to the overall incidence of malnutrition which could be as high as 50% in intensive care units.
VIPUN Gastric Monitoring System
The VIPUN Gastric Monitoring System is indicated for nasogastric enteral feeding in patients with or at risk of gastrointestinal motility disorders or enteral feeding intolerance. The VIPUN Gastric Monitoring System provides a Motility Score that can support the medical staff in individualizing nutrition strategy both prior to initiation of and during the administration of medical nutrition.
ANTERO Gastric Evaluation System
The ANTERO Gastric Evaluation System is indicated for the evaluation of gastric motility in (ambulant) patients with upper gastrointestinal symptoms. The presence and frequency of gastric contractions can be used for diagnostic purposes in patients with gastroparesis(-like) symptoms.
The VIPUN and ANTERO catheters are equipped with a balloon which is inflated in the stomach. The dual lumen tube of the VIPUN Catheter provides gastric access allowing aspiration or administration of nutrition directly into the patient’s stomach.
The VIPUN and ANTERO Gastric Monitoring and Evaluation System inflates the balloon and verifies and secures the correct location of the tube in the stomach after initial placement and during use, by measuring the pressure in the inflated balloon.
Variations of the intraballoon pressure, caused by gastric contractions, are used by the VIPUN and ANTERO System to monitor and evaluate gastric motility and supports healthcare professionals in the diagnosis of gastroparesis or enteral feeding intolerance.
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VIPUN Medical
VIPUN Medical is a privately-owned, KU Leuven spin-off, located in Mechelen, Belgium. We develop a novel method to feed critically ill and other vulnerable patients.
