News & Updates

Rekonas is thrilled to announce our selection for the Spring 2025 edition of the Blue Lion Acceleration Program.

Following an intensive selection process, we are proud to join a cohort of 10 exceptional pre-seed startups embarking on this entrepreneurial journey.

About the Program

Blue Lion is Zurich's leading startup hub and incubator. The acceleration program supports early-stage companies through a rigorous curriculum by providing access to a curated network of experts, mentors, and investors. The program focuses heavily on software solutions in the digital health sector with the goal of fostering patient-centric innovations for the Swiss healthcare system.

Our Mission in the Accelerator

During this program, we will advance our long-term vision of providing mask-free home therapy for sleep apnea.

To achieve this, our immediate focus is deploying our proprietary sensing technology with clinical researchers. By empowering study coordinators with high-fidelity sleep tracking tools today, we are validating the core technology that will power our therapeutic solutions tomorrow.

This strategic approach ensures that our future patient-centric therapy is built on a foundation of rigorous clinical data and validated precision.

We look forward to collaborating with the Blue Lion community and our fellow startups in the coming weeks.

Rekonas has co-authored a new research letter together with research partner Dr. Med. Matthias Herrmann of the Universitätsspital Basel Department of Pneumology. The paper, titled "PRISm and the risk for all-cause mortality in relation to sleep disordered breathing: a community-based study", is published in the prestigious ERJ Open Research journal and explores the complex interplay between specific lung function patterns and sleep health.

Understanding the Research: A Layman's Guide

To understand the significance of this study, it helps to understand the two main conditions being analyzed: PRISm and SDB.

• What is PRISm? PRISm stands for "Preserved Ratio Impaired Spirometry." In simple terms, it is a condition where a person's lung size (volume) is smaller than expected for their age and height, but their airways are not blocked or obstructed (unlike in COPD or asthma). It is often considered a precursor to other lung diseases or a marker for heart issues.

• What is SDB? Sleep Disordered Breathing (SDB) includes conditions like sleep apnea, where breathing repeatedly stops and starts during sleep. This lowers oxygen levels in the blood and strains the cardiovascular system.

The Key Question: Previous research has shown that both lung issues and sleep apnea can shorten a person's lifespan. However, very little was known about what happens when a person has both PRISm and Sleep Disordered Breathing. Does having this specific lung pattern make sleep apnea more dangerous?

Key Findings

The study utilized data from the Sleep Heart Health Study (SHHS), analyzing over 3,400 participants to track survival rates over an average of 15.9 years.

The researchers found that:

1. Prevalence: Approximately 12.2% of the study population had PRISm. These individuals tended to have a higher Body Mass Index (BMI) and experienced more severe drops in oxygen levels during sleep compared to those with normal lung function.
2. Mortality Risk: While PRISm is often viewed as a high-risk marker, this study found that PRISm itself was not an independent cause of higher mortality after adjusting for age and heart health. However, for those with PRISm, having severe sleep disordered breathing significantly increased the risk of mortality.

Conclusion

This research highlights the importance of looking at the "whole picture" of a patient's health. It suggests that for patients with PRISm, doctors should be particularly vigilant about diagnosing and treating severe sleep apnea, as the combination poses a significant health risk.

You can read the full research letter in ERJ Open Research: 10.1183/23120541.01399-2024, or use the link below to download the paper.