Meet Dr. Lynne Lim, the doctor who founded medtech startup NousQ and invented CLiKX, the world’s first handheld robotic device for ear tube surgery.

How has winning the Cartier Women’s Initiative Science & Technology Pioneer Award impacted your research and entrepreneurial journey?

It has afforded NousQ immense visibility, validation and a vast, brilliant and great-hearted entrepreneurship ecosystem and sisterhood. It is like a super multiplier and accelerator: it opens up so many other worlds that we had not even dared to dream of.

How important is it to recognise, support and fund women entrepreneurs?

Without supporting women entrepreneurs, the world misses out on innovations and development that men do not focus on or care for. Women’s diseases and specific pain points can be better addressed. As they are usually the main caregiver for both children and the elderly, this also means children’s and elderly issues can be addressed in a more nuanced way.

What are the challenges of the current surgery method for glue ear (also known as otitis media with effusion)?

When antibiotics and medications fail and there is recurrent otitis media with effusion, surgeons insert a small tube of 1–2mm in diameter onto the eardrum to drain the chronic accumulation of fluid in the middle ear. The current surgery requires many microscopic instruments, which the patient may not tolerate, and thus require general anaesthesia. Once general anaesthesia is needed, there has to be a costly operating room set-up with heavy manpower support, as well as an expensive surgical microscope to visualise the small ear tube well in the tiny ear canals. These result in high cost, long wait times of up to years, risk of general anaesthesia itself, low willingness to get treatment, and inequity due to barriers to accessing treatment.

How does CLiKX manage to omit so much of what has been standard procedure?

CLiKX simplifies surgery by integrating different technologies into a small handheld applicator that makes the incision on the eardrum and inserts the ear tube in just 1 second, with just a click of a button. The integration of a proximity indicator, sensor, and software program allows the use of just a headlight with magnification, which removes the need for a microscope. There is great precision and replicability with robotics and automation. As the procedure is so quick—faster than even an injection, Covid swab or tooth extraction—it can be done under local anaesthesia.

What’s the scale of CLiKX’s potential impact?

Glue ear is the number one cause of hearing loss in children. Currently, only about an estimated 18 million ear tube surgeries are done each year globally, but the real need is an estimated 120 million such surgeries. By simplifying surgery, CLiKX can significantly increase the number of patients who can access the surgery. By treating hearing loss early, patients can hear, learn and speak. In the longer term, they then have more work and social opportunities, and the whole society benefits.

What were the challenges you faced in developing Clikx and building NousQ?

An invasive surgical device like CLiKX takes many years of research and development. I started working on this with my cofounder in 2011. Since then, there have been over five major and 20 minor iterations and improvements of the device. It takes a lot of grants and investment to bring CLiKX to the current stage. When I had to leave for private practice in 2014, it became even more challenging, as there is much less support for research in the private sector. We soldiered on with support from A*STAR and the National Research Foundation. In 2021 we had to spin off our own company so that we can raise funds and continue our work. Plus, there are many aspects like manufacturing, clinical trials, regulations and payment models that we had to look into. The invasive surgical device ecosystem is still relatively unmatured compared to the West, and investors here are more risk averse. The talent pool is smaller too. But there have been more efforts made by Singapore’s medtech industry to support startups.

This story originally appeared in the August 2024 issue of GRAZIA Singapore and Grazia.Sg

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