IBV, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria La Fe, UPV, CSIC and REDIT Ventures launch RI MEDICAL, the technology-based company for more efficient and accurate prostate cancer screening

16 May 2025.

The Institute of Biomechanics (IBV), The La Fe Health Research Institute (IIS La Fe), the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) have created the new technology company RI MEDICAL alongside the venture builder REDIT Ventures.

The said company will manufacture and market a medical device capable of providing objective, reproducible and accurate information on prostate stiffness, thereby facilitating the early detection of prostate cancer (PC), at the screening stage. This alternative provides greater objectivity and, therefore, greater efficacy in the detection of prostate cancer, thus improving the survival rate and subsequent quality of life of patients.

Prostate cancer is one of the cancers with the highest rate of diagnosis in Spain and Europe among men and the second highest worldwide. It is estimated that more than 35,000 new cases were diagnosed in Spain in 2020, 500,000 in Europe and 1.3 million worldwide.

The equipment that has been developed combines a high-resolution sensor with an ultrasound medical device, thereby enabling clinicians to accurately measure prostate stiffness by accessing the periphery of the prostate, the region where most tumours are found.

The device, which has already been patented, has been developed by urology specialists, technologists and primary care physicians. The company estimates that it will provide objective and effective information for the detection of prostate cancer, preventing 18% of prostate cancers with normal PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) from going undetected and undiagnosed until a later stage, which results in higher morbidity and mortality.

The developed solution is therefore positioned as an easy-to-use, accurate and automatic measurement tool that saves costs. It is expected to become a highly efficient alternative to complementary PC diagnostic techniques, eliminating subjective digital rectal examinations and complementing blood tests for the detection of PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen).

The device is currently undergoing clinical trials for certification and future commercialisation. The company expects to generate a turnover of 3 million euros within 5 years and to employ 10 highly qualified workers.

·Carlos Atienza, the director of the Health Area at IBV says: “At the Institute of Biomechanics (IBV) we generate new knowledge and carry out R&D activities to develop healthcare products throughout their entire life cycle, from conception and certification to market launch and disposal. In this specific case, we have participated in the design and manufacture of an innovative stiffness sensor, in the control electronics and the software that analyses the physiological signal – all of which form the technological basis of this new medical device.”
Gonzalo Belenguer, REDIT’s representative on the REDIT Ventures board, states that “RI Medical is the first spin-off to be launched by REDIT Ventures, the venture builder created by the Network of Technological Institutes with its own funds, in collaboration with the IBV, the La Fe Research Institute, the UPV and the CSIC. We will soon have more news confirming the impact that REDIT Ventures is going to have on the region. Operating across all industrial sectors in the region, this is a quite unique model that presents a dual challenge: first, the generation of technology companies from the most disruptive R&D carried out by technology institutes; and second, investment in these companies to establish them as major players in our region. In the short term, we expect to see the creation of 11 new companies, generating more than 100 high-value direct jobs”.
On behalf of the IIS La Fe, the Institute’s Science Director doctor Guillermo Sanz says: “The idea arose in the IIS La Fe when we identified the need for greater clinical objectivity and accuracy in prostate cancer screenings at the hospital. The La Fe Hospital provides the perfect environment for identifying clinical challenges and needs, while the La Fe Research Institute offers funding, product development, protection and transfer. Always with the aim of achieving real transfer of knowledge to the market and patients”.
Doctor César David Vera Donoso, the head of the Integrated Translational Urological Research Centre of Valencia (NITVIU)at the IIS La Fe, has been working on this device. He says that ‘the original idea is quite simple: turn any subjective medical information into objective information. Therefore, in the case of prostate cancer screening, it is necessary to develop a device that measures prostate stiffness, since a digital rectal examination depends on many subjective factors. And that is just what we have created”.

A spokesperson for the CSIC states that: “The CSIC is participating in the development of this invention through its Institute of Instrumentation for Molecular Imaging (I3M), a centre jointly run by the CSIC and the UPV. The Council is applying its knowledge of medical imaging systems to help strengthen the technology in terms of data collection, thus providing information to support effective diagnosis.”