Ghent-based startup PointCaré has raised nearly €1.5m from private investors to develop a platform that interprets real-time data in intensive care units (ICUs) and operating rooms.
The company is developing OnTarget, a system that analyses data streams from various medical devices and provides tailored clinical advice based on the patient and the clinical situation.
PointCaré was founded in 2022 by Dr Henri Van Overmeire, an astrophysicist, civil engineering student, and anaesthesiology trainee. He graduated cum laude in both astrophysics and medicine before specialising in anaesthesiology. His academic path also includes business economics and jazz drumming, which he says shaped his unconventional approach to problem-solving in healthcare.
Founder and CE, Dr Henri Van Overmeire, said: “Critical care is integrated care.
“Providing care in the OR or ICU involves many components, and the effects of one aspect of treatment often have far-reaching consequences for others.”
ICUs and operating rooms are filled with high-tech equipment—such as ventilators, monitors, and infusion pumps—that generate large volumes of data.
However, this data often remains siloed, with devices operating in isolation. This can overwhelm staff and contribute to alarm fatigue, where clinicians become desensitised to constant alerts.
Dr Van Overmeire said: “Existing equipment often fails to take the individual context of each patient into account — each case, situation, and person is different.
“This leads not only to diminished care quality and suboptimal treatments but also puts a heavy burden on healthcare workers, contributing to alarm fatigue and its consequences.”
While newer Internet of Things (IoT) technologies allow devices to exchange information, Dr Van Overmeire said that without central interpretation, their clinical value remains limited.
OnTarget aims to address this gap by integrating and contextualising data in real time to support better clinical decisions.
The platform uses a combination of classical natural language processing (NLP) techniques, large language models (LLMs), and what the company describes as proprietary agentic AI methods.
These are designed to offer full transparency in decision-making.
Dr Van Overmeire said: “Unlike many AI models today, the OnTarget platform is not a statistical ‘black box’ with hidden logic: every recommendation must be clearly traceable through a reasoning process expressed in understandable language.”
Chief executive Veronique Pattyn added: “Beyond the clear benefits for the individual patient, by avoiding complications, we can also reduce costs in a healthcare system under immense pressure.”
With the newly secured funding, the company plans to continue development and clinical validation of OnTarget.
It aims to commercialise the platform internationally by 2028, positioning it as a potential benchmark in critical care technology.
