Dialysis device startup Advent Access soothes kidney patients' pain point

KIDNEY-failure patients undergoing hemodialysis suffer numerous needle insertions every week, with each prick running the risk of pain, ineffectiveness and wearing out the target vein.

Medical device startup Advent Access is going after that literal pain point, with the goal of ultimately making needling so easy that patients can do it by themselves. The company has a core product, av-Guardian, on the verge of obtaining CE market approval, and a recently acquired already-commercialised solution that could help to jumpstart growth.

"(Allowing patients to needle themselves) might sound like a good-to-have, but the significance of that is that it is the biggest bottleneck in freeing the patient from the nurse and the infrastructure," said Advent Access founder and chief executive Peh Ruey Feng.