A digital platform dedicated to professionals in the world of nutrition: this is Morphogram®, the project launched by the startup Nubentech, which was one of the three winners of the seventh edition of Open-F@b Call4Ideas, the international contest sponsored by BNP Paribas Cardif, one of the top ten insurance companies in Italy, and InsuranceUp.
Through a completely digitized system, Morphogram® allows to assess the risk factors and body composition of a patient using only a meter and a computer. Andrea De Cristofaro, co-founder and CEO of the company, told InsuranceUp how the platform works and what are the projects for the future.
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The idea: a simple but reliable platform for nutrition field
In Abruzzo, Italy, the idea for Morphogram® was born four years ago, following the launch of a nutritional counseling service in a network of pharmacies. “The need arose for a solution that would lower the cost of purchasing the equipment needed to see patients, but that would also be reliable compared to traditional methods” said De Cristofaro.
This is exactly what the Morphogram® platform does. Using only a tape measure and a computer, the system allows nutrition professionals to fully analyze the body composition of their patients.
An easy and quick technique, which, however, does not compromise the quality or the precision of the examination: a series of tests has proven that the results obtained with the Morphogram® method are comparable to those obtained with the Bioelectric Impedance Analysis, a well-established technique that, however, requires the use of electrodes and other highly specialized machines.
“Morphogram® was created with the aim of overcoming the limitations of the nutritional consulting market: a local, not very scalable market, with high start-up costs and low therapeutic continuity” explained the CEO of Morphogram®.
How the Morphogram® method works
Once registered on the platform, nutritionists can track the characteristics and progress of all their patients via a virtual dashboard.
Depending on the amount of data made available, Morphogram® allows for smart and full analysis. For the first option, three easily measurable parameters (waist, abdomen and hips) are simply input into the system to analyze individual risk of metabolic syndrome and changes in body fat and body composition, for preventive or monitoring purposes.
Full analysis, on the other hand, is based on 10 measures and provides a complete clinical and nutritional overview, including a range of additional information compared to traditional methods.
The use of a virtual platform allows to considerably reduce the expenses related to the equipment and opens the way to the possibility of carrying out visits remotely, a procedure that turned out to be essential during the new coronavirus pandemic.
Remote visits and the Covid-19 pandemic
“The Covid-19 emergency has given an impressive boost to the need to make remote visits,” said De Cristofaro, who then specified, “Plenty of nutritionists have welcomed this possibility, thanks also to the stance taken by the National Order of Biologists, which has approved online consultations during the exceptional period we are experiencing.” The possibility of carrying out virtual visits helps not only physicians but also patients, who in this way can continue their path without running any risk, also improving the levels of compliance with the nutritional program. Telemedicine was a growing sector even before the Covid-19 pandemic, and according to Morphogram’s CEO, it will continue to thrive: “It is undeniable that the coronavirus emergency has given an unprecedented boost to technological development and, with Morphogram®, we want to give our best.
Nutrizionista in Cloud.it
In addition to Morphogram®, among the services of Nubentech, there is also Nutrizionista in Cloud.it, the first portal that puts patients and nutrition professionals in direct contact.
By accessing the website, users can take a quick test to find out their health status and then search a database to find the best nutritionist for their needs, filtering by both area of specialization and location of preference.
“For the professional it will be an all-in-one suite to visit and manage patients, even remotely, while for the patient it will be a useful service to self-monitor their health status and get real-time feedback from professionals,” said De Cristofaro.
The win at Call4Ideas Open-F@b and future projects
After an open digital battle and the ratings of the jury composed of BNP Paribas Cardif members and external experts from various fields, Nubentech has been selected among the three winners of the 2020 edition of the international Open-F@b Call4Ideas competition.
“We are proud to have received this important award, mainly because our solution has been appreciated for its ‘democratic nature’ and for the problem it aims to solve: prevention of diet- and lifestyle-related diseases,” said De Cristofaro.
BNP Paribas Cardif’s Research & Development (R&D) team will now support the three winners in the development and implementation of their project, which will also be integrated into the company’s products or offering models.
In the long term, however, Morphogram is looking at the international market: “Weight problems affect about 40% of the entire world population. For the future we aim to become an international player in the field of nutrition and wellness” concluded the co-founder and CEO Andrea De Cristofaro.
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