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MedTech · R&D

Research Intern @ PKvitality

How a prototype opened the door to building a pandiabetic smartwatch.

The BioWatch prototype I built during my master's led directly to an R&D internship at PKvitality, a 50-person startup that had raised several million euros to develop the first glucose-monitoring smartwatch for people with diabetes.

At PKvitality, I joined the R&D team as a research assistant and returned to the same minimally invasive biosensing principle I had explored with BioWatch: microneedles designed to measure glucose continuously and painlessly in dermal interstitial fluid. It was the point at which a student prototype became hands-on work on a product moving toward the market.

Working in a multidisciplinary laboratory, I combined daily experimentation with data analysis and scientific monitoring. I ran in vitro tests on electrochemical microneedle CGM prototypes, analyzed the results, documented anomalies and findings, and helped guide the team's next R&D iterations. Alongside this laboratory work, I reviewed the scientific literature and published a literature review on lactate pharmacokinetics during physical activity.

Vivien Perrelle in front of the PKvitality stand: Continuous Glucose Monitoring in a Smartwatch