Porous and the EIC Accelerator: Bone Ultrasound Still in Trials

Porous GmbH, a spin-off of Berlin's Charité university hospital based in Potsdam, uses ultrasound to measure the microscopic pores in cortical bone. Its EIC project said bone mineral density scans, the standard test for osteoporosis, miss 80% of people at risk of a fragility fracture, and that Porous "aims to replace BMD as the standard for osteoporosis diagnosis" with a mobile, radiation-free device, according to CORDIS.

The European Innovation Council granted €2,500,000 towards a €3.76 million project from February 2023 to May 2026, to move the device towards market entry and validate it as "superior diagnostic of osteoporosis". The first-year report, the only one on CORDIS, lists a custom ultrasound device, software improvements, a clinical study design and six recruited clinical centres. A 1,600-person fracture risk study began in March 2025 and runs until 2029, according to ClinicalTrials.gov. A 350-person study testing whether the device can estimate bone mineral density was completed in September 2026. No results or market approval as a diagnostic have been announced.

Where Porous Stands Now

In May 2026 Porous hired Ossi Riekkinen, a founder and long-time CEO of the Finnish bone diagnostics company Bindex, to lead business development. Its announcement said Porous is "pushing company growth and commercialization", runs trials at eight European sites with 2,000 participants, has closed the first part of its fracture risk study and has raised more than €5 million in private equity. Its share capital rose in April 2025, March 2026 and September 2026, according to register publications shown by North Data.

The Technology: Reading Bone Pores With Sound

The device sends ultrasound into the bone and analyses the backscattered signal to estimate pore density and cortical thickness. The first-year report says it met the EN 60601 safety standard for medical ultrasound and met the requirements for CE certification as a measuring device for clinical research, with an audit under the EU medical device regulation scheduled for July 2024. That certification is for research measurements, not diagnosis.

What the EIC Project Promised, and What CORDIS Shows

The project set four goals: stakeholder work towards market entry, product development to technology readiness level 8, software development and clinical validation. The device and software work is documented. Clinical validation, the step that would support market approval, depends on a study that finishes three years after the project ended. CORDIS still lists the project as signed and has no final report.

1. Device and softwareDeliveredPer first report.
2. Clinical studies launchedDeliveredTwo registered studies.
3. Clinical validationPendingFracture study to 2029.
4. Market entryNot yetNo diagnostic approval announced.

The Money

Porous's revenue and results are not freely available; North Data shows balance sheets for 2023 and 2024 only to paying users. Besides the EIC grant, German public records list grants of €302,499 and €37,465 in October 2025 for validating bone density estimates, and €162,156 in 2024 for a study on bone stability in pigs. Porous has not said whether the EIC Fund invested.

What Cannot Be Checked

Why Europe Should Care

Porous's investor NLC Health Ventures puts the cost of fragility fractures at about €60 billion a year in the EU. A cheap, radiation-free test that finds more people at risk would matter. The EIC paid for the preparation; the evidence that the test predicts fractures is still years away.

The Verdict

Porous and the EIC have not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on public records and published statements, linked throughout.