Alexander Veenhof works as an oncological surgeon at Amsterdam's Antoni van Leeuwenhoek hospital. His love of technology and innovation led to the start-up Corporis Medical at Brightlands Maastricht Health Campus. 'This is how you can make healthcare cheaper.'

The grandfather of Alexander Veenhof (Heerlen, 1981) was the prominent and charismatic surgeon trainer Frits Buytendijk (1913-2004), his mother's father. For thirty years he worked in the hospitals in Heerlen where he trained numerous surgeons. Alexander remembers the great stories. I think that, partly unconsciously, they played a part in my decision to study medicine.

Both worlds

And yet the choice was not easy. 'I hesitated between something medical and something technical. As a child I always played with Lego and was often busy designing technical things.' In the end it became a combination of both. As a surgeon you are after all involved with technology, you try to cobble together things in a handy way, to put it banally. And yet - to be perfectly honest - I still missed the technical stuff, so that's how these worlds came together. Think of it as a hobby that got a little out of hand.

Tissue quality

Mainly due to the enthusiasm of Professor Cuesta, he specialized in intestinal , esophageal and gastric surgery. Already during his fellowships came the thought of founding a company. 'Sometimes in a perfect operation we would remove a piece of esophagus or a piece of stomach. When we then put the two remaining pieces of intestine or stomach back together again, it turned out that such a connection would leak after a few days. And if such a new connection leaks, then the intestinal contents end up in the abdominal cavity. That makes the patient very sick. So you have to operate again and some people even die from it. In Europe and the US, it is estimated that 20,000 people die every year. What struck me was that there was actually no good method of testing the quality of the tissue. How good is that really? Does that grow together or do you get a leak after a few days? The only thing that surgeons did was to see if the tissue looked a little bit well-drained and that was it. That's how this search started: how can we make sure that this leakage occurs as little as possible?'

Interested investors

The investors came, first Inkef Capital in Amsterdam. Corporis Medical moved to Maastricht when LIOF and Brightlands Venture Partners stepped in. John Marugg became CEO and now there is a team of about ten people. You can't do this on your own next to a surgeon's practice,' says Veenhof. 'In life, sometimes you have to be a little bit lucky too. I think a lot of surgeons and technicians have looked at this problem to come up with a solution. With a little bit of luck, it looks like we found it.'

The device, which is now awaiting European and American approval before it enters production and can be applied, does not test the attachment itself, but tests the quality of the tissue. Very simply with a number. If it is too low, then there is a high risk of leakage. If it is sufficient then the tissue should be alive enough to ensure that the sutures stay together. And then nature can take over, the pieces should stick together and heal.

Extensively tested

The prototype has been tested on 215 patients. By several surgeons in different hospitals. Alexander Veenhof: 'We got the results we hoped to see. We can predict whether leakage will occur. So: if you take a measurement in the future and you are below a critical value, then we can predict with 90 percent certainty whether such a leak will occur. You can then attach consequences to this during the operation. Or you say: I have a low measurement so I'll look for a place on the bowel where the value is higher and where you won't get such a leak. And if you can't find that, then you have to make a choice: is it about a young person who has a good chance of surviving such a leakage or is it about an older person with a bad heart who would be better off with a stoma anyway. No matter how unpleasant that is. You can very well base these kinds of critical decisions on such a measurement.

New innovation

In the meantime, Corporis Medical is working on a second innovation. Here it is about an innovative device that can prevent complications from keyhole surgery. Such as a scar fracture. It ensures that wounds can close automatically in a safe and efficient manner so that fewer people need recovery surgery. 'The goal is to make it better for patients and more efficient for us as surgeons,' says Veenhof. 'That way you can also make care cheaper. Because it saves a lot of money if you can reduce the number of recovery operations."

Attracting effect

Although he has a family with three small children and a surgical practice at the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek hospital in Amsterdam, he can no longer imagine life without a company. The combination of hospital and university and investors around a campus works out well, he says. Such a campus has a magnet effect for talented young people from whom start-ups like ours can benefit. We need people who have just graduated and are looking for a good place to gain experience. The danger is that they then move on to big companies like Philips or ASML. That's why it's important for startups to be together near the university to stay in sight of young people.'

Bright People

In the interview series BRIGHT PEOPLE, Emile Hollman interviews a Brightlands figurehead every month. About people with a passion, with a mission and about what is needed to find an answer to the questions and challenges of today and tomorrow. The interview series BRIGHT PEOPLE is a collaboration of Brightlands with Innovation Origins.