Winners of Startcup Lombardia 2024: INSIGHT, the Revolution in Colonoscopy

INSIGHT is among the winning projects of Startcup Lombardia 2024, the competition organized by universities and university incubators in Lombardy to promote a culture of innovation within the academic context and foster the development of new entrepreneurship. The initiative is supported by the Lombardy Region – Directorate General for Economic Development and MUSA – Multilayered Urban Sustainability Action, and coordinated by PoliHub – the Innovation Park & Startup Accelerator of Politecnico di Milano.

Conceived by Chiara Lena and Luca Carlini, Ph.D. candidates in Bioengineering at the Department of Electronics, Information, and Bioengineering at Politecnico di Milano, under the scientific supervision of Prof. Elena De Momi, the project aims to revolutionize colonoscopy procedures. Thanks to the technology under development, INSIGHT enables a Jreconstruction of the examined mucosa, allowing the identification and analysis of previously uninspected areas. The goal is to enhance the quality of colonoscopies, thereby increasing diagnostic accuracy and contributing to a reduction in the incidence of colorectal cancer.

Luca Carlini, co-founder of INSIGHT, explains how the project aims to revolutionize the colonoscopy system: “Through 3D reconstruction of the colon’s surface that has been analyzed, we can highlight potential gaps that have not been inspected, where lesions may hide. The impact of INSIGHT will reduce the portion of mucosa left unanalyzed, which currently stands at around 23%. Lower values will lead to a significant improvement in diagnostic performance”.

The INSIGHT team also includes Davide Milesi, a research fellow at the Department of Electronics, Information, and Bioengineering at Politecnico di Milano; Alessandro Casella, who earned a Ph.D. in Bioengineering at Politecnico di Milano in 2023; and two clinical experts from IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital in Rozzano (MI), Marco Spadaccini and Prof. Cesare Hassan.