Carsten, tell us a bit more about yourself and who you are outside of imito.

Above all, I like to be outdoors in nature - preferably with our 4 kids. I would also describe myself as a passionate trail runner. That means I prefer to run in the woods and also like to torment myself up inclines.

I grew up in southern Germany. After studying in Constance on Lake Constance, I first traveled to New Zealand and Australia in 2006. I've been living in Dresden since 2007 and I like it here very much.

I really like meeting new people and I consider different cultures, languages and views to be a huge enrichment in my life. I also abhor any kind of racism, sexism and homophobia and will naively believe in the good in people all my life!

How long have you been with imito and what did you do before that?

I've been with imito since 2020, initially as a product manager and since 2023 I've been able to maintain and develop our wonderful Business Development team.

In 2006 I completed the Information Engineering course at the University of Konstanz. I specialized in the field of human-computer interaction. I have been working in healthcare since 2007, initially in the field of speech recognition and digital dictation as a developer and usability engineer, then as a convinced product lover in the area of product management and business development.

So you've been with imito for a while. How has imito's (product) strategy developed over the years?

Long is relative, but a lot happens in our agile company in three years. imito was founded in 2016 and since then there has also been imitoCam - our medical Instagram for all clinical video and photo documentation.

When I came to imito in 2020, imitoWound - our solution for radically simple wound and stoma management - was just taking off. And now (summer 2023) we are already in productive use in over 50 hospitals and rehabilitation clinics in the DACH region - in many houses with campus-wide implementation. In addition, imitoWound is also on the market in Brazil and we are about to enter the market in the UK.

From the very beginning of imitoWound's conception, the topic of AI and in particular decision support (CDS) in wound care has been firmly anchored in our mission. The main aim is to create an objective solution for wound care that is also effective for non-wound experts.

For example, we have been working on an innovation project funded by Innosuisse since 2021. As part of this project, we have developed, among other things, a fully automatic wound measurement including recognition and segmentation of the tissue types. This is now followed by the development of the 3D reconstruction of wounds, as well as a decision support system (CDS) for treatment including healing prediction and a serious game for further training in wound care.

At the events, the business development team received a lot of feedback on imitoWound's AI functions. Which function is most exciting for customers?

In short, certainly the automatic wound measurement and recognition and segmentation of the tissue types = take a photo of the wound and bang, wound area and percentage distribution of the tissue types is documented. This created many WOW moments at the events.

However, many customers are also impatiently waiting for the use of 3D reconstruction of wounds and decision support in wound care. The many discussions about the possibilities of serious games for further training in wound care were also very exciting.

You are often in conversation with customers and get deep insights into their everyday life - which statement recently fascinated you?

I can think of three examples that I really like:

In the meantime, several customers have confirmed to us that imitoWound reduces the time required for wound documentation by 75% - and in addition, the wound assessments are structured and recorded promptly with measurements. In the words of my daughters: "Nice!"

With our imitoScan solution, well over 50,000 tests were documented as part of the Covid testing of employees in a clinic - this enabled an efficient testing process.

And in all likelihood, imitoCam will soon be used in a veterinary medicine clinic for the photo and video documentation of animals. I find it super exciting!

You often show potential customers our products for the first time. Which stakeholders in hospitals typically participate in live demos?

The mix of stakeholders is just as colorful as our team at imito. It really is very different. From nurses, wound experts, doctors and nursing service managers to IT managers, CTO, CIO, CEO, strategic purchasing and other stakeholders from management or management.

Of course, the purchase of our solution is always associated with negotiations. Nevertheless, it is our credo that at least those responsible for the process and users are involved right from the start. And something has changed in the last few years. Healthcare professionals are listened to more when making such decisions or are consulted earlier.

What was the funniest/craziest live demo you've ever had and why?

Two moments immediately come to mind:

It was September 2020. I had only been at imito for 6 weeks and did a 5-minute pitch at the Digi Derma Start-up Café of the Professional Association of German Dermatologists (BVDD) in Berlin. I had a lot of presentations before that, but it was my first start-up pitch at the age of 40.

In April 2023 at the DMEA in Berlin. I present our automatic wound measurement live and get applause and shouts like "crass", "really now...", "WOW"... and other words that I can't write here...

What do you appreciate about working remotely?

Everything now! My kids and I can just chat at lunchtime or we eat together. There is no commute to work. Hmmm, maybe that's why I do jogging so much. And I can just work in other places.

However, it took me a bit to get used to remote work at first. I was in the company office for 12 years before that. At the end of the day, I think it depends a lot on “do I want to work like this?” and “Do I work in a trust-based work environment?”. I can answer both questions at imito with a big YES!

You live the 4-day week. What do you usually do on Fridays?

Laundry and household …. Sometimes. In general, I do something for myself: sleeping, jogging, meeting friends, going somewhere with my camper van, going on a trip with my family ... I started doing this in 2022 and I get along very well with the fact that I usually don't plan anything there.

To be honest, that's exactly the biggest reward for me: having nothing planned!