Grenoble is an interesting area, not only because of our link with Ottobock (Chabloz orthopedics), but also because it’s a superb recruitment pool. Thanks to top-level teaching and research institutes such as UGA, Grenoble INP, INRIA and CNRS, we receive very good candidates. Initially, I was thinking of balancing our two sites of Grenoble and Montpellier, but in fact we recruited more in Grenoble.
The proximity of scientific laboratories is an asset: we can set up studies with INRIA, the TIMC laboratory and the Laboratoire d’Anatomie des Alpes Française (LADAF) at Grenoble University Hospital. The Minalogic competitiveness cluster puts us in touch with partners who help us polish our applications for various types of aid. Inovallée also supports us … 
You founded Anatoscope in 2015: what was your background and how did the “Anatoscope adventure” begin?
Until 2015, I was a professor of computer science at Joseph Fourier University and a researcher at INRIA in mechanical simulation of the virtual world. With other researchers, we were involved in interactive medical simulation, i.e. simulating a surgical operation in real time. More specifically, I was looking to create customized simulations based on cross-sectional images of a patient, rather than generic organ simulations. Today, we talk about creating digital twins of patients based on imaging.
Conventional imaging doesn’t provide the doctor with all the information he or she needs, and certain fine structures, such as ligaments and nerves, are not even visible on the image, even though these elements are essential. Together with Prof. Palombi, professor of anatomy and neurosurgeon at Grenoble University Hospital, we created a detailed anatomical model of a generic patient, and devised a method for transferring this knowledge to patients to create detailed, personalized models.
Convinced of the usefulness of all this research for the medical world, I also realized how difficult it was to pass on the results to industry. It’s a long job, with problems of scheduling on the part of industry, of integrating innovative methods, but also questions about outlets.
So I took on the project of creating a startup and with four fellow researchers (Frederick Van Meer, PhD in robotics, Olivier Palombi, neurosurgeon and professor of anatomy, Benjamin Gilles, CNRS researcher, and Matthieu Nesme, PhD in digital simulation) we founded Anatoscope in 2015.
Our initial goal was to facilitate patient-doctor communication, by giving patients a very concrete and personalized view of their health problem. In the end, this turned out to be a red herring, as there was no market for this service. We turned to the dental and orthopedic markets to help them design personalized treatments.
Moulding and sculpting techniques to create appliances work, but they are not very precise and require a very long apprenticeship. In the Grenoble area, Chabloz Orthopédie, which specializes in prosthetics, orthotics and custom fittings, was particularly receptive to our innovative product, as the company was already heavily involved in research and development. And in the dental field, we had the support of Biotech Dental located in Salon de Provence as early as 2015. We found customers before we found investors, and that’s what enabled us to grow without diluting ourselves.
Was the company’s development gradual or meteoric?
Our business has developed gradually, but the big breakthrough came when we signed up industrial firms, which gave Anatoscope financial stability and a degree of security, as well as the capacity to hire.
Anatoscope has chosen an original development model, based on a technology that can be applied in several fields, and by creating subsidiaries in partnership with manufacturers. Circle dental is one of these subsidiaries, in common with Biotech Dental, a company with which we were in contact from the startup’s inception. Today, it’s our company’s most important activity. Copopsa is our second subsidiary, specialized in orthopedics and a partner of Ottobock, parent company of Chabloz Orthopédie and world leader in external orthopedics. We are in the process of creating our third subsidiary, Capteo, to market another invention, the AnatoLog sensor, which measures the pressure applied by medical equipment on the patient’s body.
9 years after its creation, I consider that Anatoscope is still a start-up, as we have not yet reached the break-even point in all our activities. Today, the group as a whole employs around sixty people, two-thirds of whom work in Grenoble, around 35 at Circle dental, 8 at Copopsa, and the rest at Anatoscope. These are essentially R&D-oriented IT developers, i.e. almost exclusively engineers or PhDs.
Do you have an international presence?
In orthopedics, our products are present in Europe and the USA. In the dental sector, only France. Our new Anatolog product is sold in a dozen countries, with sensor assembly and calibration carried out in Montpellier.
What’s innovative about your latest Anatolog product?
The AnatoLog system consists of pressure sensors and a software program that visualizes the evolution of pressure within a device.
Using sensors positioned at various anatomical points, the software provides medical staff with objective information on the pressures exerted by a device on the body. This complements subjective feedback from patients.
This technology is used, for example, in the treatment of plagiocephaly in baby skulls. The AnatoLog system verifies that the custom-made orthopedic helmet will apply precisely the right pressure to correct the deformity without harming the baby.
Are your innovative technologies unique?
On the dental side, our biomechanical simulation tool has two major and unique advantages.
Firstly, it precisely calculates the occlusal position of the dental arches, enabling us to design prostheses that ensure harmonious distribution of contact pressures and perfect interlocking of the teeth between the upper and lower arches.
It then enables a virtual fitting of the treatment for validation of the prosthesis, before applying it to a human being. This level of precision is not possible with conventional casting methods or imaging software.
In orthopedic design, our anatomical models are the only ones that enable us to precisely reposition the virtual patient in the therapeutic configuration, for optimum form. What’s more, our advanced numerical methods make it easy to find optimal compromises between antagonistic constraints.
In sensors, we have competitors in podiatry but without CE marking. What’s more, our sensors are the only ones that can be positioned at several precise points on the patient’s body. The only equivalent is a pneumatic sensor with manometer, but with a single measurement point and no dynamic recordings. Our sensors mark a new generation, versatile and connected.
What are your links with the Grenoble ecosystem?
Grenoble is an interesting area, not only because of our link with Ottobock (Chabloz orthopedics), but also because it’s a superb recruitment pool. Thanks to top-level teaching and research institutes such as UGA, Grenoble INP, INRIA and CNRS, we receive very good candidates. Initially, I was thinking of balancing our two sites of Grenoble and Montpellier, but in fact we recruited more in Grenoble.
The proximity of scientific laboratories is an asset: we can set up studies with INRIA, the TIMC laboratory and the Laboratoire d’Anatomie des Alpes Française (LADAF) at Grenoble University Hospital. The Minalogic competitiveness cluster puts us in touch with partners who help us polish our applications for various types of aid. Inovallée also supports us: for Anatolog, for example, we received training and canvassing services in 2023, which was very productive.
