Health Innovation Venue for Enterprises (HIVE)
TNO’s Health Innovation Venue for Enterprises (HIVE) is a dedicated support center designed to accelerate growth for companies in the digital health space. This refers to digital solutions that lead to better patient outcomes, more selfcontrol over health, and the alleviation of the healthcare system.
Digital health companies face unique challenges: navigating regulatory landscapes, demonstrating effectiveness and keeping pace with rapidly evolving technologies. As a result, many innovations never reach the patient or healthcare professional. By building a solid foundation of evidence and providing guidance in implementation and scaling, we help these companies deliver impactful solutions that improve health outcomes and patient experiences.
Our mission
HIVE drives digital health innovation through:
- Shared knowledge development on emerging technologies
- Direct expert support to accelerate R&D of digital health companies
- Establishing strategic partnerships to bring innovation to practice
‘Digital health innovation thrives when great ideas meet the right expertise. At TNO HIVE, we bridge the gap between ambition and real-world impact.’
Our approach
HIVE brings together healthcare experts, data scientists and business strategists. Through this multidisciplinary approach, we help you:
- Build credibility through proven effectiveness
- Create sustainable, well-governed solutions
- Scale with confidence in the healthcare sector
Our collaborative approach combines your innovative vision with TNO's expertise and network. This empowers you to navigate critical development stages while contributing to a more resilient and efficient healthcare ecosystem.
Join TNO HIVE
At TNO HIVE, we enjoy working with innovative companies in the digital health sector. We specifically focus on SMEs and startups developing products and solutions for digital health, founders and entrepreneurs in digital health technology, and companies looking to validate and scale up their healthcare innovations.
We believe in the power of collaboration to drive healthcare innovation. Therefore, we actively connect our partners with key players in the healthcare ecosystem, such as:
- Healthcare providers and professionals
- Insurance companies
- Regulatory bodies
- Technology partners
Together with innovative newcomers and established parties, we aim to create sustainable, scalable solutions that improve patients' lives, support healthcare professionals in their work and promote efficiency across the sector.
The HIVE ecosystem
The HIVE ecosystem consists of four different components: direct support from experts, research, joint development, and an industry network and knowledge platform.
1. Direct expert support
TNO HIVE helps digital health entrepreneurs with their innovation-related questions. We invite you for a first meeting without obligation. If we decide to tackle your challenges together, we offer expertise across various fields concerning development and implementation of digital health technology.
Not sure where you stand with your innovation? Take the Quick Scan to get a clear picture.
2. Research services
At TNO HIVE, we offer research support at every stage of development to digital health companies. We work closely with you to ensure your products are both technically sound and viable in real-world healthcare settings.
Our services include:
- Study design
We help define study protocols that align with your evidence generation requirements. Through a structured intake process, we define the needed evidence base, relevant outcomes and methodology to quantify these outcomes. These protocols can support planned studies and future grant applications.
- Impact assessment
We help you assess the economic and clinical impact of your innovation. Our approach involves scoping relevant outcomes and measuring these against your innovation costs. This evidence strengthens your position in negotiations with potential buyers and healthcare procurers.
- Technological assessment
We provide technological validation of your innovation for companies, investors and procurers. Our testing services include literature and patent research, expert consultations and laboratory testing. This gives you comprehensive insights into technical feasibility, development opportunities and your technology's unique market position.
3. Co-development services
At TNO, we leverage our extensive expertise to support companies in both the development and implementation of their innovations. We collaborate with companies to explore innovative applications, such as integrating wearables with TNO-developed algorithms. With this approach we ensure that cutting-edge technologies deliver impactful results.
Our services include:
- Remote measurement capabilities
We offer research capabilities hat reduce participant burden and enable real-time data collection.
- Integration of hardware and algorithms
We specialize in connecting hardware with existing algorithms to enhance functionality and performance.
- Strategic software application
We provide practical insights on software implementation, ensuring innovations are effectively translated into daily healthcare practice.
- Comprehensive measurement solutions
We offer standardized measurement tools to support health interventions and diagnostics.
4. Industry network and knowledge platform
We offer organizations a valuable network where innovators can learn from the experiences of each. Our Community of Practice (CoP) fosters knowledge sharing and collaboration, enabling enterprises to benefit from collective insights and offering opportunities to collaborate in future projects.
The CoP facilitates quarterly events ranging from specialized workgroups led by industry experts to networking events, informed by the demands of our network. The focus this year is on the introduction of AI in healthcare.
During these workgroups we explore in-depth topics, promoting collaboration and innovation in the application of emerging technologies within the healthcare sector
Transforming healthcare for tomorrow's challenges
At TNO HIVE, we recognize that healthcare faces unprecedented challenges from an aging population and increasing pressures on the healthcare system. That's why we focus on accelerating digital health innovations that can transform healthcare delivery. We support entrepreneurs and companies developing solutions that enhance patient engagement, enable better self-management, and strengthen preventive care approaches. By fostering these innovations, we help create a healthcare system that is more sustainable, resilient and accessible to all.
Example projects
This app enables programming of questionnaires for momentary assessments, allowing frequent daily monitoring of participants' activities such as eating habits or medication usage.
This proof-of-concept study measured caffeine effects remotely and compared results with laboratory studies. The findings validated that home measurements can reliably identify effects, demonstrating the viability of patient-collected data in home settings.
We're addressing traditional medical research limitations by developing digital biomarkers that provide real-time data through wearables. These enhance clinical trials by reducing duration and participant numbers, offering financial benefits while enabling less invasive remote patient monitoring. Our focus is on developing meaningful biomarkers for various health conditions that prioritize patient needs. This project is an example of the integration of hardware and algorithms.
This tool provides a holistic view of a patient's life through an integrated visual profile wheel, combining questionnaires and healthcare provider measurements. Originally developed for type 2 diabetes, it's now expanded to other lifestyle-related diseases. The modular, validated tool supports shared decision-making and is accessible via TNO's Diamonds platform or can be integrated into external systems. This project is an example of a comprehensive measurement solution.
Our comprehensive health measurement tool offers a holistic view of health, primarily designed for research purposes. It enables efficient assessment of metabolic, cardiovascular and physical health through simple home measurements. The tool demonstrates TNO's expertise in streamlining comprehensive health assessments, featuring quick, minimal-question protocols supported by measurement manuals and video instructions.
Contact us
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Ismail Ismail
Functie:Business Developer-
Standplaats:Leiden - Sylviusweg
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Email:Email Ismail
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LinkedIn:Ismail on LinkedIn
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Robin van Stokkum
Functie:Data Science Consultant Health Sciences-
Standplaats:Utrecht
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Email:Email Robin
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