Energy harvesting from biological cells

Motivation

In today’s medicine electronic devices are standard of care to interact with biological tissue, to measure and monitor biological signals and to substitute organ deficiencies. Cardiac device therapy is one of the oldest and most widely used clinical fields using implantable electronic devices.

Until today all medical electronic devices operate on batteries or external energy transfer. Autonomously driven energy self-sustaining medical electronics do not exist. Current technology of energy supply limits implantable electronic lifetime, it necessitates secondary replacement surgery with associated costs and risks, and it restricts functionalities of advanced biological signal monitoring to guide patient management and digital health.

Implantable cardiac electronics are further limited through typical out-of-organ implant sites which necessitate long insulated wires to connect to cardiac tissue. These so-called ‘leads’ carry a significant risk of insulation defect, wire break, infection and other vascular damage. With limited connection points to the target organ this technology contains further unmet risks of patient harm, repetitive surgeries and incremental healthcare costs.

Our Mission

Micro electronic

Smart semiconductor implants for medical observation and actuation in the Nano-Watt range.

Biological cells

Energy harvesting and electrical stimulus directly interfacing with the cells.

Energy harvesting

Biological cells provide the energy for the function.

Connectivity

Wireless read and write interface to the device.

Technology

Based on a number of European-Patent-Office- and PCT-filings, we hold a strong IP position on technology, which allows to collect electrical energy of living biological cells with the purpose to sense, communicate and process electronic actions in medical electronic devices such as loop recorders and cardiac pacemakers.

Our basic operating principle enables collection of electrical energy in the Nano-Watt range. Its provenience is located in the action potential cycle of the living cell, which transforms sugar as primary energy carrier into electrical current flow as well as nerve and muscle action. We also employ system redundancy and time-domain differences between semiconductors and biology for increased efficiency. Our technology allows for storage, transformation and usage of Nano-Watt-Power to supply the energy needed to operate medical electronic components.

Application Pacemaker Cardiac pacemaker therapy is one of the oldest clinical electronic applications. During every single heartbeat, billions of cardiac cell are orchestrated in their synchronized function through a wave-like spread and magnification of electrical activation. Our technology utilizes this biological characteristic for multi-point electrical energy harvesting in substitution of deficiencies in electric organ functionalities, if they occur (see graphic).
Our first implantable product will be a pacemaker, which contains a semiconductor chip, operateting in the Nano-Watt-Range. Numerous electrodes connect the chip with the cardiac tissue. The device will operate without leads and without batteries. The electrodes to the biological tissue will provide a high number of mutually replaceable connection points to the tissue, leading to higher reliability of the entire device-to-tissue interface. The product will become smaller in volume and removes the need for replacement when batteries are depleted.

Company Video

Management Team

Gerd Teepe, PhD

  • Co-Founder and CEO
  • Semiconductor, Engineering
  • 30+ years with the semiconductor business in Design, Product Management and Marketing

Jarek Budny, MBA

  • Co-Founder
  • VP Finance & Business Development
  • Finance and ops leader driving innovative business strategies while ensuring strong financial foundation. 25+ years in both startups and multi-nationals.

Paul Reidy, Esq

  • VP, M&A and Licensing
  • 23+ years in IP Licensing
  • Global M&A experience
  • Start up veteran
  • P&L responsibility in large and small orgs

Forrest Pape, MSEE

  • VP Product Development
  • Lead R&D teams for implantable pacemakers, defibrillators, and neurostimulators for over 30 years, helping grow multiple billion-dollar businesses.
  • 15 patents

Extended Team and Key Advisors

Thomas Gaspar, MD

  • Co-Founder, Clinical Advisor
  • Cardiac Electrophysiologist, complex cardiac device therapy, head of departments, Leipzig, Bad Neustadt, Dresden

Judith Piorkowski, MD

  • Co-Founder, Clinical Advisor
  • Physician expert in cardiac devices, remote patient care, digital health, and arrhythmia genetics. Director of Steinbeis Research Institute “Rhythm & Heart”. CEO of e-heart AG

Christopher Piorkowski, MD

  • Co-Founder
  • Physician scientist with 270+ peer reviewed publications in CRM, EP and Heart Failure. Led clinical university departments. Global leadership experience in MedDevice industry.

Mike Pederson, MBA

  • Senior Advisor
  • Med device leader with 30+ years experience in CRM, electrophysiology and heart failure. Led both startups and large multi-national device businesses.

 

Prof. Dr. Kai Simons

  • Board Member
  • CEO of Lipotype GmbH and Emeritus Director of the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics.

Engineering Team

Manu Thayyil, PhD

  • Principal Design Engineer
  • Semiconductor, Engineering

Niko Joram, PhD

  • Principal System Engineer
  • Semiconductor, Engineering

Tom Drechsel, PhD

  • Principal System Engineer
  • Semiconductor, Engineering

David Osmanovic

  • Design Engineer
  • Semiconductor, Engineering

We are hiring miroelectronic engineers. You are interested to join our team? Please write an e-mail to gerd.teepe@celtro.de.

About us

„CELTRO was founded on November 18th, 2019. Its initial work has focused on feasibility studies, system architecture, creation of the development-partner-network and own patent filings. We are now expanding operationally to develop the prototypes leading into qualified products.“

Backed by venture capital from private investors.

News

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