U N D E R T H E M I C R O S C O P E

CEO , PIPRA

Pipra AG has developed Artificial Intelligence to prevent postoperative delirium ( POD ), a condition prevalent in over 60s undergoing routine surgery . With the UK ’ s ageing population reaching 14.5 million people , more older people are opting for surgeries , with 70 % of POD cases going undiagnosed . In an exclusive interview , we hear from John Klepper , Pipra ’ s CEO , who set out on a path to find a solution after his mother suffered from POD .

What challenges in healthcare does Pipra AG ’ s technology address , especially concerning the prevalence of undiagnosed POD cases in older patients ?

POD has staggering effects on patients , their families and carers , and on already strained healthcare systems globally , where hospital beds are limited , healthcare professionals are stressed and overworked , wait times for operations are getting even longer and as the world ’ s population ages . Using a realworld example , with PIPRA , we have been able to reduce the occurrence of POD by up to 43 %. When implemented , PIPRA will take a significant strain off our already bursting healthcare systems , and that is globally speaking . Medical professionals will be freed up to see patients with other ailments and will be able to go about their workday without the worry and stress of patients developing POD in their care .

For background , POD is a common condition in adults over 60 years of age who are undergoing a surgical procedure , whether a small routine surgery or something major . POD is a distressing condition , with symptoms that include agitation or profound inactivity , as well as changes to a person ’ s attention , awareness and cognitive ability . It is also associated with an increase in post-surgery falls , longer hospital stays , increased nursing home admissions , hospital readmissions , cognitive decline , dementia and increased mortality . The condition also increases hospital stays for those who have undergone routine surgery by 1.5 times and causes mortality rates to increase by twofold . These short- and long-term impacts of POD are putting significant strain on healthcare costs every day , stretching hospital ’ s financial resources even further .

Could you elaborate on the personal motivation behind Pipra AG ’ s journey to develop this lifechanging AI technology for preventing POD ?

Back in 2010 , my mother went in for a routine surgery at a renowned hospital in Switzerland . Sadly , when she woke from her surgery , she was a different person . She suffered from POD . For days she saw monsters coming out of the hospital walls and thought the hospital staff were trying to kill her . While she was fortunate enough to ‘ recover fully ’ she has a type of PTSD from the experience and to this day is still terrified of hospitals .

The impact that this had on my mother was one of the driving forces behind my wanting to be able to prevent this ghastly condition . Having previously worked in Alzheimer ’ s Disease early prediction and prevention , also using AI , and with the strong links between the two diseases , I felt compelled to act on this to prevent others from having the same experience .

Many of the patients I spoke to early on , while doing discovery and stakeholder interviews , described the experience of delirium as the ‘ worst days of their lives ’ and those are the lucky ones who did not suffer from accelerated cognitive decline .

Can you explain how Pipra AG ’ s AI-powered software works in preventing postoperative delirium ( POD ) in older adults ?

PIPRA AG is a MedTech start-up based in Zurich , Switzerland , with a focus on the prevention , prediction and diagnosis of delirium . We have developed an innovative AIbased tool called PIPRA that can be used to predict ( POD ), allowing clinicians to introduce targeted interventions for high-risk patients .

Essentially , PIPRA is a predictive tool that measures the risk of postoperative delirium before a patient goes for surgery , using clinical information that is routinely collected by healthcare professionals .

A patient typically sees their anaesthesiologist before surgery and is asked a series of routine questions to assess the

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