Nordic Brain Tech

Client Overview

Nordic Brain Tech (NBT), a Norwegian medtech start-up, aims to revolutionize migraine treatment. With their pioneering technology, Cerebri utilizes biofeedback to anticipate and prevent migraine attacks. Alongside an international team of experts, NBT has also introduced Brain Twin, a mobile app designed to aid in headache diagnosis by maintaining a headache diary within the app. They are undergoing clinical trials in Norway, aspiring to provide global solutions for migraine sufferers.

Thorgate’s crucial role

Thorgate has been instrumental in developing NBT's technologies, such as Brain Twin and Cerebri.

When Thorgate and Nordic Brain Tech initially joined forces in late 2019, the initial goal was to create Brain Twin - a mobile application that assists users in maintaining a headache diary and tracking headache locations and medication intake, thereby enhancing the diagnosis of migraine triggers. At present, Brain Twin has been launched in the App Store and Google Play, currently only in Norway and Sweden with more than 30k signups with an ambition to expand to other countries soon.

After a successful collaboration in building Brain Twin, Thorgate’s healthtech team and Nordic Brain Tech’s team joined forces with Together Tech and NTNU teams to create CEREBRI - a remote biofeedback treatment for migraine headaches. The product consists of sensors that measure parameters connected to migraine such as muscle activity in the upper trapezius muscle (which runs from the shoulder to the neck), pulse, pulse variability as well as temperature from the tip of the finger. All this data reaches a mobile app during the regular exercise sessions, thus enabling personalized recommendations for its users that help with headache prevention as a part of a doctor-prescribed treatment plan.

Bringing Vision to Reality with a Lean Process

Our journey with Nordic Brain Tech began with an MVP workshop to help define the initial scope of Brain Twin. This step, guided by a clear and effective approach, helped us yield a detailed scope document enriched with user flows and database architecture so we could understand what was needed and plan out the details before diving into design and development.

With a limited budget, building Brain Twin was a challenge. However, our lean and flexible process helped set up essential tech features and back-end functions, proving that we could do a lot with a little, such as setting up the Azure ecosystem, endpoints for headache and medications tracking, and building other back-end functionalities while being agile. The team knew that the product was a success when after a short while the product had amassed more than 10k users within the year since launch.

After Brain Twin, we teamed up for CEREBRI. Working with Nordic Brain Tech, Together Tech (i3tex) in Sweden and NTNU from Norway, we got a grant from Digi-B-Cube (EU) to start working on the new concept. Further funding from Eurostars helped us develop it into a product fit for clinical trials, even with tight deadlines.

This collaboration beautifully highlights Thorgate’s commitment to helping partners such as Nordic Brain Tech at every step of the way, from initial planning, design and development, to securing additional funding, defining new milestones, and final execution. Our work with NBT showcases how we turn ideas into real, working products as a strategic IT product development partner.

Technology Used

The created applications are powered by Python, Django, and React Native, a powerful combination that ensures robustness, scalability, and efficient performance.

Python is a versatile high-level programming language used for its simplicity and readability, allowing for rapid development and debugging. Django, a Python-based framework, is employed for its ‘batteries-included’ philosophy, providing a wide range of functionalities out-of-the-box, thus saving development time.

React Native, on the other hand, was chosen for its unique capability to use native components that compile directly to the device’s machine language. This feature enhances the user experience by ensuring smooth performance and a native look and feel of the application. Additionally, React Native facilitates accelerated development by integrating third-party plugins, which provide additional device functionality, such as accelerometer and gyroscope support.

In addition to these technologies, the Azure environment was used for data storage and management. The choice of Azure was crucial as it was important to keep the data within Norway due to data protection and privacy regulations. Azure’s robust security measures and compliance offerings made it the ideal choice for hosting sensitive health data.

The combination of Python, Django and React Native has proven beneficial in simplifying the development process and securing the applications. This is particularly important in the e-health sector, where data security and privacy are paramount. Using these technologies ensures that the applications are user-friendly and adhere to the highest data protection standards.

Success

The partnership between Thorgate and Nordic Brain Tech has achieved significant milestones.

Brain Twin, the first collaborative product, has already amassed over 30,000 users, enabling a more accurate diagnosis of migraine triggers as it helps maintain a detailed headache diary, pinpoint headache locations, and track medication intake.

CEREBRI, an innovative migraine treatment technology, is in process of clinical trials in Norway, with the potential to transform migraine care by proactively preventing headaches. This solution can potentially improve the lives of thousands of individuals by reducing the frequency and severity of migraine attacks.

Thorgate's expertise in developing these cutting-edge solutions underscores their commitment to advancing medtech and improving healthcare outcomes. The team's dedication to information security and innovative technologies has been instrumental in bringing these projects to fruition.