DIANA is working with deep technology start-ups to accelerate innovation in the dual-use space.
Through ‘Challenges’, DIANA articulates the urgent needs of NATO Allies and invites deep tech companies to propose innovative solutions to fulfil those needs, which innovators then refine with feedback from end-users and potential buyers.
One of DIANA’s crucial challenge areas focuses on ‘Human Health and Performance’. When we speak about dual-use technologies aiming to address this challenge, we’re referring to innovations that can be used for civilian and defence purposes — think about diagnostic tools and better treatments that could be used in patient care to improve public health, but could also be adapted for defence purposes.
Whether it’s breakthroughs in AI and bioinformatics that enable more personalised care, or next-generation wearable technology that allows individuals to recover from injury or thrive in extreme conditions, this challenge offers an opportunity to leverage technology to help build a more peaceful future.
Out of DIANA’s 74 innovators part of the 2025 cohort of companies, 13 are working on solutions aiming to address our Human Health and Performance challenge. To better understand their ground-breaking technologies, we spoke to some of the innovators leading the way in their fields.
Pioneering machine olfaction
RealNose, a MIT spinout founded in 2023 and based in Boston, talk about triggering the ‘molecular renaissance’ with their technology.
“We’re about to unlock the world of odour molecules, which is extremely rich. We’re so used to seeing things and hearing things, but as humans we are not fine-tuned to the smell of things. And the truth is that that’s where the most important and relevant information about our health is — at the molecular level, not in the light or sound,” said Andreas Mershin, Chief Science Officer at RealNose, who retired from academia after more than 20 years to focus on his start-up.
By integrating AI and bionanotechnology, RealNose’s solution works by mimicking how dogs use their sense of smell to detect disease through scent signatures.
Canine noses are much more sensitive than human noses, allowing dogs to detect certain diseases with incredible accuracy. The ‘electronic nose’ being developed by RealNose uses lab-made versions of the protein receptors found in mammals’ noses.
These receptors are extremely sensitive and work like tiny sensors able to identify unique chemical fingerprints — or scent signatures — in the air. RealNose’s device then uses machine learning algorithms to first learn to recognise and then detect and track these scent signatures.
In this way, RealNose is creating a tool capable of identifying the smell of diseases like cancer, avoiding the need for invasive and painful biopsies — a faster, simpler and more scalable method of screening for and accurately diagnosing disease.
The interior of RealNose’s prototype.
While there are other initiatives and companies out there that are also attempting to better understand chemical signatures of diseases and to translate them into diagnostic tests, RealNose’s innovation is unique because it focuses on ‘perceptual’ scent signatures.
Rather than looking for highly specific biomarkers — like RNA or genetic changes — linked to a disease, RealNose’s e-nose aims to capture broader and more complex odour patterns: “Like dogs can do intuitively and with incredible accuracy, we’re aiming to detect and interpret overall scent signatures linked to different diseases or states, even if we can’t pinpoint the individual molecules linked to the disease,” explained Mershin.
And while their device could revolutionise the way we diagnose certain health conditions, it also opens the door to countless security and defence applications — from detecting hidden explosives to locating individuals in need of rescue after natural disasters or in conflict scenarios.
“This is where DIANA has played a key role for us; in connecting us with great mentors who have been able to advise us and give us ideas on how our technology could be applied in completely new ways and scenarios that we hadn’t thought about before. There really are endless possibilities where our technology could be used to make a difference”, said Nikolas Stefanou, co-founder and CEO of RealNose.
The RealNose team, which has raised $1.65 million in venture capital and angel funding since April 2024, is currently working on refining their prototypes. The team is preparing to start validating and testing their technologies at DIANA’s test centres — starting with MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory.
“We’re currently doing some debugging and, in a couple of weeks, we will start validating our latest prototypes with urine samples. We are also in touch with clinical partners to start designing a bigger validation study,” said Mershin.
Andreas Mershin and Nikolas Stefanou at DIANA’s Defence and Security Days in Krakow.Improving mobility through robotic exoskeletons
Also rooted in academic research is Interact Technologies, a deep tech spinoff of Sabanci University in Turkey. Drawing on the synergy of robotics and AI, the company was founded in 2015 and focuses on developing dual-use exoskeleton systems.
One of Interact’s exoskeletons, known as AssistOn Arm, is a wearable device that assists with upper body rehabilitation. A key application of this robotic arm is therefore within a clinical setting, where it can help improve the quality of life of people who have suffered strokes or other neurological injuries.
“Designed to improve mobility and strength, our exoskeletons are a completely novel technology — in both their mechanical design and the software we use, which is cutting-edge,” said Mehmet Alper Ergin, Lead Robotics Engineer at Interact Technologies.
After working on refining their technology for almost a decade, the team at Interact currently have a highly developed medical device, which has been supported by Hacettepe University during its development phases and clinical trials.
“We have deployed multiple devices to hospitals in Turkey already, where they have incorporated our robotic arm into their treatment protocols — so our technology has already been used in patients for the last few years,” said Ergin.
Interact’s AssistOn Arm being used by a patient.But as well as helping patients regain their strength and mobility, exoskeleton systems also have plenty of defence applications. Beyond their use in medical rehabilitation, they can also enhance human performance more generally — by helping wearers lift heavy objects and equipment, or even helping them move across challenging terrains or for very long distances.
Interact’s second device is a passive exoskeleton, which is body-powered — meaning that it doesn’t require external sources of power like batteries to function. Instead, it takes advantage of the wearer’s own movements to power the device, using mechanics to respond to motion.
In this way, this passive exoskeleton is designed to reduce the strain and effort needed to perform physical tasks by redistributing weight. In fact, the device can transfer up to 80 percent of the load attached to the upper body — from a heavy backpack, for example — to the ground.
“Transferring the load being carried by the wearer from their shoulders to the ground is not an easy feat because we need to efficiently transfer the load without restricting the wearer’s movements — as we want them to still be able to perform challenging activities, like crawling or jumping,” said Ergin.
“To develop effective dual-use exoskeletons, we need to have a very good understanding of human kinematics — in other words, understanding the way our bodies move — and applying this to the mechanical and robotic design. This is the challenge that we have been working on solving for more than eight years as we developed our exoskeleton systems,” he said.
While Interact’s technical progress is already impressive, being able to access DIANA’s innovation ecosystem and network has proved to be valuable for the team as they also navigate the complexities of scaling: “DIANA has been a huge help so far. We have met very good mentors in the programme. And the training and assignments have really helped too — we have been working on our intellectual property strategy as well as a pricing system.
“We’ve also had the chance to meet many useful contacts. Before joining DIANA, we only operated in Turkey, but we are now in a position where we can start approaching other NATO nations, including the United Kingdom and Germany,” said Ergin.
Interact’s leadership team.
Driving innovation to benefit society
By being part of DIANA’s programme and exploring dual-use applications, innovators like RealNose and Interact Technologies are clearly making a difference. As well as driving impactful solutions that benefit society, exploring dual-use applications is also allowing these companies to tap into broader markets, opening the door to faster adoption and scalability.
This is just the beginning for these companies, who will continue to develop and grow their technologies and businesses simultaneously, even after the formal programme ends. By fostering a thriving innovation ecosystem, DIANA will continue to support these trailblazers as they refine and scale their solutions to improve human health and wellbeing globally.
To find out more about all the companies part of DIANA’s Human Health and Performance challenge, please visit: https://www.diana.nato.int/about-diana/2025-cohort-of-companies.html