Research and innovative technologies at the Peritus Clinic
On Medicon Village In Lund, there are about 170 different activities in Life Science. Since 2020, it also includes Peritus Clinic, specializing in urological diseases, for example, problems with the prostate, incontinence and erection. The vision is that the business will be a complement to public healthcare in Sweden and an important ambition is for the clinic to have short waiting times with many functions under one roof so that patients do not have to go to many different hospitals and departments.
From the very beginning, the Peritus Clinic has set out to be one of the most modern hospitals in Sweden and has the high goal of creating world-class treatment outcomes. The four operating rooms use cutting-edge integrated technology together with, among other things, an operating robot. In addition, there is a diagnostic department with the latest versions of technical equipment such as magnetic camera, fusion biopsy and PET-DT.
“We want a hospital that is at the forefront of innovation,” says Åsa Dahm, CEO of the company. In operating rooms, we have a totally integrated solution that allows us to control the entire operation from a central point. There are no small computers in the operating room, but the information is collected on a large multi-touch screen on the wall where many programs can be open, so you can simultaneously access everything from x-rays and medical records to the internet. In one of the halls there is an operating robot that the surgeon controls via a 3D screen. In addition, the nurse has her own screen that manages all the devices in the room, and this allows us both to make presets of the system and that the staff minimize the work in the operating area so that the surface can be kept more sterile.
“The fact that the operating room is fully integrated also means that we can document and save the data produced inside the operating room. For example, we can save values for blood pressure, pulse and oxygen saturation for research. In addition, the documented surgeries can be used for training sessions, and students can view the surgery and discuss with surgeons from a conference room. We have created what we see as the operating theatre of the future, built for education and research.
In a smaller operating room adjacent to the large one there is equipment to care for benign prostate enlargement. In the postoperative ward, six places are offered, while the nursing department has five single rooms and two double rooms. In the clinic there are also a number of practical technical solutions: a central gas storage makes it impossible to change bottles during the operation. In the operating room, an ergonomic light shines that saves the eyes of the staff but still makes you see, for example, cords on the floor. The clinic also has a system that allows one to track the instruments used during a particular operation should it be needed. All administration is digitized and doctors can book surgery appointments themselves, which saves a lot of time.
So far, the clinic is not fully operational. Therefore, one of the operating rooms is used by an orthopedic clinic. Along with this activity, the Peritus Clinic uses about half the capacity that one could have. The number of patients is increasing all the time. So far, there is only one benign urology care agreement with Region Halland, but Peritus Clinic hopes for more future collaborations. Currently, most patients come here via their insurance, via Region Halland or they pay for it themselves.
“We hope that in the future we will be able to collaborate more with different regions so that there will be an opportunity for others to come here if other queues are long without patients having to pay themselves,” says Åsa Dahm. However, more and more regions have begun to discover the possibility and we have patients as far away as Norrland, for example. The free movement directive within the EU also allows patients to seek specialist care from other countries if there is a queue.
For Petter Hartman, CEO of Medicon Village Innovation, it is very positive to have the Peritus Clinic in the area.
“With the establishment of the Peritus Clinic, the entire health chain is represented at Medicon Village — from prevention and diagnostics to treatment and care. In doing so, the Peritus Clinic has added an important piece of the puzzle to our concept. The ambitious investment in a fully equipped clinic with diagnostics and treatments directly connected to the other activities at Medicon Village also gives the researchers an opportunity to collaboratively conduct patient-centered research and clinical trials at the absolute forefront,” says Petter Hartman.
For the Peritus Clinic, it was a conscious choice to place themselves on the Medicon Village area.
“One reason is that we want to be able to easily conduct research and development with the other companies,” says Åsa Dahm. For example, we could help with research on different ways of working in surgical disciplines, but also with creating models for how a cancer grows. We're already having a discussion about doing a study together with a company that wants blood and tissue samples for certain cancers to see if they can build models for different drug therapies. The proximity of the area means a lot because it makes it easy to connect and to shape meetings to see what we can do together.
In addition to the fact that Medicon Village is a good place for those who want to work in Life science, the place Lund has also played a role. What is the benefit of being in Lund?
“In a couple of years we want to be known as a world-class clinic and work in a larger context, and then we are very well located in Lund with only 45 minutes to Kastrup and with the possibility of collaboration with a university hospital,” concludes Åsa Dahm.
More facts:
The Peritus Clinic has been made possible by a group of investors: The Andersson Family (Mellby Gård), Mats Paulsson (PEAB) and Antonia Ax:son Johnson and Göran Ennerfelt.
The background to the choice to work with prostate patients is that Per-Anders Abrahamsson, professor emeritus, urologist and initiator of the Peritus Clinic, has long had a vision of starting a complement to public healthcare that can help relieve the burden on the public system with patients mainly in urology.
(from Perituskliniken.se)