Multidisciplinary group awarded in France 2030 Plan to develop next-generation software-based, smart, and frugal ultrasound imaging devices : E-Scopics, Vermon, IHU de Strasbourg and Inria come together within the strategic POCUSI consortium

An innovation project bringing together four French partners

POCUSI - Point of Care UltraSound for Screening & Intervention - is a research and development consortium, and winner of the national 'Innovation in Medical Imaging' call for projects. 

Its objective is to support the development and structuring of a French sector of excellence in medical imaging, as part of the France 2030 plan, operated by the French public investment bank Bpifrance. 

In the context ofstrong growth in the medical ultrasound market, POCUSI proposes a disruptive approach to point-of-care ultrasound, pushing back the frontiers of accessibility to non-expert operators. 

With a willingness to democratize ultrasound for the care of chronic diseases, all along the patient’s journey, from surveillance, detection to interventions, the consortium will focus on developing enhanced operator’s assistance and identifying measurable quantitative parameters directly linked to the severity of chronic diseases. The R&D project represents a total amount of €6.7 million over 5 years. It is funded on behalf of the French Government by Bpifrance as part of the France 2030 Plan up to €4.7 million, and is based on: 

• the next-generation software platform from E-Scopics, and its first commercialized product, Hepatoscope,
• the high-performance ultrasound probes from Vermon,
• the expertise of IHU Strasbourg in clinical and preclinical trials,
• the data-guided medical simulation tools from the MIMESIS team, a joint venture between the CNRS, Inria and the University of Strasbourg at the University of Lorraine Inria Centre.

Clinical applications focused on chronic diseases

POCUSI's ambition is to further the democratization of ultrasound, initiated by E-Scopics, by making it accessible throughout the care pathway for patients with liver diseases, from screening to the interventional guidance of therapeutic procedures. 

POCUSI primarily targets chronic liver diseases and their complications (hepatocellular carcinoma, cirrhosis), as well as the monitoring of metabolic and cardiovascular risk factors, which affect a growing population. Patients with obesity, type 2 diabetes, or metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), or fatty liver disease, represent at least 30% of the world population. As an emblematic example of these challenges, they constitute a population that would benefit from simple and accessible monitoring tools for appropriate management.