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AETECH: a new ULB spin-off revolutionising ECMO therapy

Publié le 1 décembre 2025 – Mis à jour le 2 décembre 2025

AETECH is a new spin-off from the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) that aims to transform intensive care medicine, by developing smart accessories for ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) systems. Supported by Innoviris, the creation of AETECH marks a new milestone in ULB’s strategy to translate biomedical research into tangible societal benefits.

An algorithm to improve the performance of ECMO machines

ECMO machines have become essential tools in intensive care: they take over the failing hearts of patients in cardiogenic shock, by pumping blood and delivering oxygenated blood to the organs. Their merits in intensive care have been recognised in the past few years and led to the design of accessories which further optimise their performance.

AETECH’s founders — Dr. Frédéric Vanden Eynden (Head of the cardiac surgery department at Erasme Hospital), Prof. Nicolas Baeyens (Head of ULB’s Laboratory of Physiology and Pharmacology), and biomedical engineer and researcher Chloé Goemans — joined forces to develop an algorithm-driven device capable of automatically adjusting blood flow rate delivered by the ECMO in real time. This innovation can ensure optimal support for patients while alleviating the workload of ICU teams.

In the coming years, AETECH plans to complete clinical validation of its ECMO optimisation module, in collaboration with partner hospitals in Belgium. Discussions with investors are also underway to prepare for the next development phase, with the goal of bringing the first certified version of the device to market before the end of the decade.

ECMO therapy

From research to spin-off: ULB and Innoviris support throughout

AETECH’s story began as a research collaboration within ULB’s Laboratory of Physiology and Pharmacology and Erasme Hospital. The research project and its results quickly demonstrated great potential for clinical application and led to the creation of a spin-off company with the support of the ULB Knowledge Transfer Office (ULB-KTO), ImpacThéo and Innoviris.

By joining leading entrepreneurship and MedTech acceleration programs, including lifetech.brussels’ MedTech Accelerator and imec.istart, AETECH was able to strengthen its technical foundations and its business strategy.

Rooted in the ULB ecosystem and the Brussels-Capital Region’s MedTech cluster, AETECH embodies the city’s growing reputation for excellence in biomedical innovation. By combining clinical insight, academic research and entrepreneurial ambition, the spin-off aims to make ECMO therapy safer, smarter and more accessible in Belgium and beyond!
 

Visit the AETECH website

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