AIM share code: SKIN

20 November 2019

Integumen PLC

("Integumen" or "Company")

Integumen announces successful results of AI water research project

Rinocloud AI remotely detects contaminated water with 99.3% accuracy in 3.37 seconds

Integumen today announces the successful results of a three-year development Remote Automated Water Test research project (RAWTest), using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in a consortium partly funded by the Irish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  

The Project

The consortium comprised of the Irish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Cork Institute of Technology's (CIT) Centre for Advanced Photonics & Process Analysis (Cappa Group), the CIT Nimbus embedded systems research institute and the AI team from Integumen's Rinocloud subsidiary. 

Rinocloud's AI platform was used to test water samples from a fully autonomous data buoy deployed on the Inniscarra Water Reservoir in Cork, Ireland, for E.coli, a bacterium that can cause illness in humans, including diarrhoea, abdominal pain, fever and sometimes vomiting.

Results: The positive detection of E.coli bacteria in the water was detected with 99.3% accuracy in 3.37 seconds.  This compares to current standard test detection time of between 5-7 days.

Gerard Brandon, CEO of Integumen plc, comments:

"Integumen continues to lead the way with practical demonstrations of solutions for real-world problems.  Remote detection of water contamination across the globe is a first and third world problem with future climate change threatening to increase flooding and contribute to water shortages.  This means increased reliance on recycling and recovery of water supplies, which in turn requires wireless monitoring of all water supplies before consumer consumption.  RAWTest, we believe, can contribute to keeping our water, and healthcare, safe."

Wireless RAWTest

·      Rinocloud's AI engine analysed wireless transmission of water data for 13 key AI features, which work as indicators, from 1000+ data elements identified by Raman Spectroscopy.

·      Results showed a 99.3% accuracy in identifying E.coli in water

·      A system of exception alarms was set up by email to escalate a positive sample to the appropriate control group

·      All data was immediately available on the secure Rinocloud portal for access by approved parties for immediate action

·      Potential for other microscopic parasite detection, e.g. Cryptosporidium and Giardia, following data samples input.

Water Scarcity:

Water scarcity is the lack of freshwater resources to meet water demand.  It affects every continent and was listed in 2019 by the World Economic Forum as one of the largest global risks in terms of potential impact over the next decade^[i].

The deployment of wireless RAWTest Buoys in water treatment plants would be a world first and have a positive impact on water consumer service metrics, reducing the average length of time water would be shut off in the event of contamination, reduced "boil-water" notices and faster time to restore supply, as well as biological quality.

RAWTest Opportunities:

·      With 20 species of Listeria bacterium, every public building including hospitals, hotels, conference halls and senior citizen nursing homes are at risk of contamination

·      Remote detection and analysis of malaria in blood in third world-countries and for military use

·      In-line milking machines could detect mastitis in a single cow, enabling instant action to eliminate contamination with a dairy herd milk collection

·      Early warning system in fermentation processes for ethanol, alcohol and wine producers at risk of bacterial hazard to improve consumer safety, shelf-life stability and longevity

Contacts

About Integumen: www.integumen.com

Integumen is a vertically integrated product and services company for skin related diseases, treatments and therapies with four business units: 

·      Labskin AI's technology platform incorporates artificial intelligence within clinical research for medical device, pharmaceuticals, cosmeceuticals and related life science test services.  Labskin allows skincare, healthcare, pharmaceutical manufacturers and cosmetic companies to test their products on human-like skin in a real-world environment with full access to multiple state-of-the-art partner technologies.

·      Rinodrive is a data aggregation, refining and AI analysis open-source eco-system designed to provide third-party service providers the ability to offer their clients valuable insights that support clinical, operational and financial decisions in healthcare services, third-level education, government departments and the financial sector.

·      Wound pHase is developing skin and wound care products using its proprietary wound dressing technology. Working in collaboration with CBD providers creating a CBD infused diabetic wound care product range.

·      Stoer-for-men skin products e-commerce division offers a range of skincare products derived from 5 natural super-ingredient plant extracts specifically for men to reduce the signs of ageing and is also used as a control for client testing within Labskin laboratories.

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