Siemens Stiftung: Scaling ApneBoot for Apnea Management

Overview

The Siemens Stiftung Foundation awarded BEMPU Health a grant to develop a solution for managing Apnea of Prematurity in preterm neonates born in low-resource settings. The result was ApneBoot — a wearable device that alerts for bradycardia and hypoxia, and resolves apnea and prolonged hypoxia episodes through instantaneous tactile stimulation to the foot sole, helping restart breathing and preventing injury or death.

With Siemens Stiftung's support, BEMPU expanded market validation to 6 Indian cities, pitching the device to 35 government and private hospitals. 23 hospitals trialed ApneBoot in their NICUs, and 5 adopted it on a trial basis — feedback that directly shaped product refinements, including dual apnea-correction and monitoring modes, customizable thresholds, and continuous AC power operation.

ApneBoot was implemented in hospitals across 7 Indian states (Maharashtra, Delhi, Karnataka, Telangana, Rajasthan, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh), selected for their high burden of premature births and limited health infrastructure. In mid-2020, the project won the State Innovation Challenge by the Maharashtra State Innovation Society, leading to a work order from the National Health Mission, Maharashtra — the second most populous state in India, with 36 SNCUs and 74% of facilities reporting inadequate nursing staff. The work order covered 15 ApneBoot devices for two remote government hospitals in Akola and Nandurbar, semi-rural and tribal regions with a high volume of premature births.

Beyond India, more than 10 ApneBoot units were deployed in Mongolia and Kenya combined, with channel partners marketing the device across other East African countries. To support continued deployment, BEMPU invested in tooling and production, building 60 ApneBoot devices, and pursued ISO 13485:2016 certification to facilitate government procurement.

Results Achieved

Project Activities

• Market validation across 6 Indian cities, pitched to 35 government and private hospitals
• Product refinement based on doctor and nurse feedback — dual apnea-correction/monitoring modes, customizable thresholds, continuous AC power
• Deployment across 7 Indian states via a bottom-up, hospital-by-hospital adoption approach
• Won the State Innovation Challenge (Maharashtra State Innovation Society), leading to a National Health Mission Maharashtra work order for 15 units in Akola and Nandurbar government hospitals
• Expansion to Mongolia and Kenya via channel partners
• Investment in tooling and production — 60 ApneBoot units built
• ISO 13485:2016 certification pursued to support government procurement
• Randomised Controlled Trial initiated to drive evidence-based adoption