About Us

Innovation

Together with the Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, ARTORG creates the medical technology hub of Switzerland's capital. ARTORG has been delivering over a decade of ambitious biomedical engineering research, teaching and development across a wide variety of clinical areas, today represented in twelve independent research groups.

We leverage dedicated medical and technological expertise through close collaboration with our clinical partners and develop revolutionary approaches we translate into new medical devices. The bandwidth of our research ranges from answering novel clinical challenges to improving existing approaches and medical technology with competences from pure algorithmic developments across component and systems development all the way to clinical validation.

Find further insights into our innovation portfolio including details for each of our specialized groups under Research.

Education

The seamless integration of the education and training of the next generation of biomedical engineers into ARTORG’s projects, exposes researchers at all levels to the entire pathway for biomedical engineering applications: from discovery, research, development to clinical translation. Collaborative projects of postgraduate students from technical and clinical backgrounds with our clinical partners move their research activities between the laboratory setting and the operating rooms, to find solutions that are informed by clinical practice. 

For more on our educational programs visit Studies.

Translational strategy

Activities at the ARTORG Center span the arc from basic research enquiry into biomedical engineering domains to clinical introduction of novel technologies and procedures.

Translation into clinical care means fundamental changes in the way disruptive technology is deployed to deliver better diagnostic, therapeutic, rehabilitation and chronic condition management outcomes. Projects at the ARTORG are designed and pursued to achieve the goal of clinical translation.

Since its founding more than 10 years ago, the ARTORG Center has built a track record of successful commercial exploitation of innovative research results. A number of University of Bern spin-offs have acquired rights to technology intellectual property, including patents, know-how, models and clinical data. These companies have matured into commercial success, attracting researchers from the ARTORG and Inselspital, investors and high-caliber management teams and becoming revenue positive with CE/FDA approved Medtech products now found in hospitals across the globe. The ARTORG Center places great emphasis on supporting a sustainable pipeline of commercial venturing activities, from spin-offs to licensing and partnering.

Through these spin-off companies, ARTORG researchers have also created 200+ workplaces in the Medtech sector.

ARTORG Spin-offs:

• Alexis Technologies AG, advanced lung-on-chip and tissue-modelling platforms
• Alveolix AG, Organs-on-Chip for the preclinical market
• AvaFlow GmbH, automated AI-based flow simulations for cardiovascular and cerebral haemodynamics
• CASCINATION AG, Image-guided and robotic surgery for precision medicine applications
• Crisalix SA, 3D/4D aesthetic-simulation software for plastic surgery
• GoRehab AG, digital rehabilitation tools based on instrumented interfaces and data-driven motion-analysis algorithms
• IMPLANZ AG, machine-learning and finite-element-based tools for diagonistic use in dental implantology
• LEM Surgical, Next generation robotics
• Neosoma GmbH, computational modelling and machine-learning for brain-tumour characterisation and treatment planning
• Optimo Medical AG, patient-specific computational-biomechanics platform for cataract and refractive surgery
• PeriVision SA, Helping Eye Doctors Save Vision with AI, VR and the cloud
• RadVoyager GmbH, intelligent robotic and navigation solutions for interventional radiology
• RetinAI / Ikerian AG, Deep learning for big data use in therapeutic decision making
• SurgeonsLab AG, 4D simulation for microsurgical training and intervention planning
• TightValve AG, surgical device to quantify aortic valve leakage intra-operatively
• ValTech Lifesciences AG, next-generation prosthetic heart valves
• URODEA AG, The first non-invasive solution against urinary retention

Partners

Translational research relies on resilient and enriching networks for success. At ARTORG we aim to create a powerful network of scientists with engineering and medical backgrounds with an awareness for mutual development possibilities: Engineers with expertise in clinical problems, workflow and methodologies and clinicians with curiosity and understanding of technological approaches. 

The ARTORG is closely linked to the Bern University of Applied Sciences, the Swiss Institute for Translational and Entrepreneurial Medicine (sitem-insel), the Switzerland Innovation Park Biel and the Swiss Institutes of Technology (EPFL, ETHZ). International collaborations extend the reach and impact of ARTORG projects, addressing global healthcare challenges for patients and societies everywhere.

ARTORG’s premier clinical partner is the Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, the largest, tertiary hospital in Switzerland. As part of the University of Bern medical faculty ARTORG and the Insel Gruppe foster strong multidisciplinary research and translation, profiting from mutual resources to allow clinical introduction from pilot work to full-scale clinical trials. 

The Bern Biomedical Engineering Network (BBME) unites the ARTORG Center, Inselspital, the regional biomedical engineering partners at the Bern University of Applied Sciences, the Innocampus AG, Biel and the Bernese medtech sector businesses. Their longstanding alignment in complementary and collaborative work is captured in a formal network, allowing for well-directed exchange of researchers, clinicians, resources, technology and facilities. BBME drives forward-looking, interdisciplinary research into novel biomedical engineering solutions that could benefit patients in the Canton Bern and beyond.