Norwegian medtech SME developing a smartphone and calibration-card system for non-invasive jaundice screening in newborns using machine learning.
Picterus AS is a Norwegian medtech SME that has developed a smartphone-based system for screening neonatal jaundice — a condition that, if missed, can cause permanent brain damage (kernicterus). Their solution combines a physical calibration card placed on the newborn's skin with a mobile app that captures an image and uses machine learning and algorithmic analysis of reflected light to estimate bilirubin levels non-invasively. This replaces expensive hospital-grade transcutaneous bilirubinometers with a low-cost, portable tool usable by parents or health workers in any setting. Their work spans the full stack: biomedical optics, photonics, calibration methodology, and AI-driven image diagnostics.
Both H2020 projects — 'A remote and price efficient tool for jaundice screening' (2019) and 'Smartphone-based monitoring of jaundice in newborns' (2020–2022) — address this exact application.
The Picterus Phase 2 project explicitly lists biomedical optics and photonics as core technical competencies underlying their image-capture and analysis pipeline.
The Phase 2 project keywords include machine learning, image-based diagnostics, and algorithmic analysis, indicating AI is central to their bilirubin estimation method.
The 'calibration card' keyword in the Phase 2 project points to proprietary hardware-software calibration enabling consistent optical measurement across varied smartphone cameras and lighting conditions.
Both projects target newborn care, and the Phase 2 project explicitly lists paediatrics as a domain, positioning Picterus within the broader neonatal point-of-care market.
Picterus's H2020 trajectory is a textbook SME Instrument commercialization path rather than a domain shift: the 2019 Phase 1 project established the concept of a remote, affordable jaundice screening tool (no technical keywords logged at that stage), while the 2020–2022 Phase 2 project reveals the full technical depth behind the product — photonics, machine learning, calibration, and algorithmic diagnostics. The focus has not changed, but it has deepened: from a validated idea to a market-ready device with a defined technical stack. There is no sign of diversification beyond neonatal jaundice within the H2020 period.
Picterus is on a pure commercialization trajectory — having secured Phase 1 feasibility funding and then Phase 2 scale-up funding, the logical next step is regulatory clearance and market entry in low-resource healthcare settings, making them a strong candidate for health tech pilots or distribution partnerships rather than further research consortia.
Picterus has operated exclusively as a solo coordinator in both H2020 projects, which is entirely consistent with the SME Instrument scheme — designed for single-company innovation rather than multi-partner consortia. They have recorded zero external consortium partners across their EU project history, suggesting they are a focused product company that builds internally rather than through collaborative R&D networks. Anyone seeking to work with them would need to approach as a commercial partner (distributor, pilot site, clinical validator) rather than expecting a traditional consortium relationship.
Picterus has no recorded H2020 consortium partners — both projects were executed under the SME Instrument, which funds single companies. Their collaboration network within EU-funded research is therefore not visible from this data; any research partnerships they hold would be through clinical or commercial channels outside the consortium structure.
Picterus appears to be the only EU-funded organization specifically commercializing a calibration-card-plus-smartphone method for neonatal jaundice detection — a niche combining photonics, mobile hardware constraints, and paediatric clinical requirements that very few teams address. Their full-stack ownership of optics, calibration, and ML inference means they are a complete solution provider, not just a software or just a device company. For healthcare systems in low- and middle-income countries, or for telemedicine platforms targeting neonatal care, Picterus offers a rare ready-to-integrate diagnostic capability that requires no expensive hardware.
