For millions of people, monitoring their health still means relying on invasive, uncomfortable, or costly methods, while access to simple and reliable health monitoring remains limited. Marzyeh Advand, a nanoelectronics engineer based in Stockholm, has spent nearly seven years working to change that.
Her company, Peckiiless, founded in 2021, is developing two innovative, non-invasive health monitoring solutions. The first is a handheld breathalyser powered by a patent-pending nanosensor designed to detect disease-related biomarkers in exhaled breath, including those associated with glucose levels. The second is a 30-second facial scan that uses a smartphone or laptop camera to estimate vital signs. The facial scan technology has already been tested on 512 participants, achieving over 90% accuracy compared with existing measurement devices.
While the breathalyser remains at the prototype stage, bringing these innovations to market involves significant technical, financial, and regulatory challenges. Hardware innovation, in particular, demands substantial investment, specialised expertise, and extensive testing, making the journey especially challenging for an early-stage startup in Europe.
In conversation with NXTin Health, Advand shares the story behind Peckiiless, the realities of developing innovative medical hardware, the challenges of securing funding and conducting clinical trials, and her determination to make health monitoring more accessible, affordable, and comfortable for everyone.
Which is harder: coming up with an idea the market needs, or making it work?
Making it work in the market. Developing a new idea and proving it in a laboratory is difficult, and it took me seven years. But bringing it to market is something else entirely. Working with investors and commercialising a technology is a very different job from working in a lab.
Peckiiless is working on two technologies for health monitoring. What exactly are you building?
Two complementary tools with one aim: health monitoring that is accessible, affordable and easy to use, wherever someone lives.
The first is a handheld breathalyser. Users simply breathe into the device, where Peckiiless’ nanosensor detects tiny concentrations of specific gases in exhaled breath that may provide valuable insights into health conditions, disease-related biomarkers, and blood glucose levels. The results are displayed instantly on a smartphone.
The second is a facial scan. The user records a 30-second video with a phone, tablet or laptop, and from that we estimate heart rate, oxygen level, respiratory rate, blood pressure and pre-diabetes risk.
Where did the idea for the breathalyser come from?
During my first master’s degree in nanoelectronics, I developed a gas sensor that could detect a very small concentration of one gas within a mixture of gases. At the time, I had a friend with diabetes who had to prick his finger several times a day. He told me that glucose levels can be measured through exhaled breath, and asked whether my sensor could pick up those molecules.
I took the question to my supervisor, who was keen to explore it, and I built my master’s thesis around measuring glucose-related biomarkers with my own sensor. I made a chamber that worked like a breathalyser, and the results were strong enough to be published in two peer-reviewed journals and presented at many European conferences. That was the moment I realised I didn’t want the work to end on paper. I wanted to bring it to people.
Who stands to benefit most?
We believe health monitoring should be part of everyday life, not something people only think about when they feel unwell. Our technologies are designed to benefit a wide range of people, from those managing chronic conditions and needing regular monitoring to individuals who want to better understand their health and take a more proactive approach to their well-being. We also see significant potential in communities with limited access to healthcare. Ultimately, our vision is to remove the barriers of cost, discomfort, and complexity, making health insights accessible to more people, wherever they are. The core technology came out of my own research, so I am both its inventor and Founder of Peckiiless.
I filed the patent in the EU and have entered the international phase through the PCT, covering Europe and the US. That process is still pending.
You founded the company in 2021, in the middle of the pandemic. How did you keep the research moving?
It was difficult. I had developed the technology in a lab, and suddenly I had no access to one. So I started a second master’s degree, in nanotechnology at Chalmers University of Technology, simply to be able to continue the development. I think that shows how much this technology means to me.
Along the way, Peckiiless received early verification grants from Almi, a scholarship from Lund University, and support from the EUIPO for patent work. The project was also recognised among Sweden’s top 20 national ideas in the Venture Cup competition. Additional verification grants from Chalmers and other Swedish organisations supported the development of our second breathalyser prototype.
At the end of 2024, Peckiiless was selected for the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences’ prestigious IVA 100 List, which highlights research innovations with strong commercial potential. In 2025, we won both the Game Changer Award and the Audience Award at Venture Cup East, followed by the national Beyond Academic Award.
During this journey, I also received two scholarships that enabled me to visit Kenya and Japan to explore the need for accessible health monitoring technologies, gain insights into international regulatory requirements, and identify potential collaborations.
These milestones helped us move from an early research idea toward a more mature technology, while building valuable networks and laying the foundation for Peckiiless’ next stage of development.
At some point you added a second product, the facial scan. Why?
In 2024, I realised that while my sensor can measure several breath biomarkers linked to health, some vital parameters simply cannot be measured through breath. Blood pressure, heart rate and oxygen saturation are examples. If the goal is a broad, accessible platform, I needed a complementary method. So I began developing the facial scan in parallel.
How does the facial scan work?
Beneath the skin we have blood vessels, and the light reflected from the skin changes colour very slightly with every heartbeat. We capture that change and extract a PPG signal remotely, using our own signal-processing and machine-learning algorithms. We focus on three areas on the face: the forehead and the two cheeks.
The face is used only for measurement, not for identification. If someone is uncomfortable with a facial scan, they can take the measurement with their eyes closed. We are designing it to work across all ages, genders and skin tones.
How have you validated it?
We tested the algorithm on 512 people. Each participant recorded a 30-second selfie video, and at the same time we measured their blood pressure, heart rate, skin PPG signal, glucose and oxygen levels with CE-marked reference devices.
The algorithm works today. It can be integrated into another platform as a B2B solution, or launched as a wellness app. What we are now deciding is the regulatory route: which classification makes sense, and which use cases are most promising to build that roadmap around.
Your work has taken you to Kenya and Japan. What were you looking for there?
In 2024, with a scholarship from Chalmers, I spent three months in Kenya exploring whether there is a real need for devices like ours, as health-monitoring tools are not widely available there. I also worked on building collaborations with hospitals for future clinical trials.
In 2025, I visited Japan to explore potential partnerships for further technology development and gain a deeper understanding of the regulatory landscape. Japan is a strategically important market for medical technology, and establishing a presence there could create valuable opportunities for future expansion across Asia.
The breathalyser is not yet on the market. Where does it stand?
Hardware takes far longer to build than software. The first prototype, from my master’s work, measures one parameter. To reach higher accuracy, we designed a second prototype that measures five. A third prototype is under development, and after that we plan to move towards a smaller, more user-friendly handheld device.
What makes building medical hardware in Europe so hard for a start-up?
I would split it into two parts: the device itself and the clinical trial.
The device has mechanical, electronic and nanotechnology components. For the mechanical and electronic parts we work with a supplier, and the cost is manageable. The nanotechnology part is a different matter. It has to be produced in a cleanroom, in a specialised lab, with specialised staff, and that is very expensive.
Clinical trials are the other barrier. I can measure my own parameters and my friends’, but I need access to a diverse group of patients, including people with diabetes, under a standard protocol. That requires a hospital partner. I found one, but the cost of running the trial is far beyond what an early-stage startup can pay.
How do you approach funding?
Mostly through grants, and that is slow. We know the plan, the protocol, everything. But first we have to find a grant that fits, then invest time in writing the application, and then accept the risk that it may not come through. I have received many grants since 2021, but not all. For Women TechEU, for example, I applied in four different calls without success.
Investors, on the other hand, see a high-risk company. They ask whether we have proof of concept and validation. We say yes, in the lab and for the breathalyser. Then they ask about patients and clinical trials, and we explain that we need funding to run them. That is where the conversation often stalls.
What keeps you going?
There is a difference between the person who made the invention and anyone else who joins later and has to believe in it.
I have dedicated six or seven years to research and the past five years to building the company while continuing to develop the technology.
I have seen the results myself, and I can see the potential. That motivates me every day.
There have been many moments of disappointment. I have a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and two master’s degrees, and I could find a good job. Instead, I am working without a salary, taking a lot of risk and investing my own money. That takes strong motivation. But I do need support from larger governmental and institutional bodies that see the potential and are willing to back it.
Are you building the company alone?
I am a solo founder, but I am supported by a team of professionals, board members, andexternal consultants from different backgrounds who contribute their expertise on a part-time basis as well as highly expert interns and PhD students. Some of our team members also have full-time jobs elsewhere, and I don’t want them to leave those positions until Peckiiless is financially able to support them. We also have a strong advisory board that provides valuable guidance and expertise. At this stage, we are looking for a co-founder to join us on this journey, as well as a clinical partner to support and conduct our clinical investigations.
If funding and regulatory approval come through, where do you see Peckiiless? Independent, or part of a larger company?
Both are possible. Our aim is to make health-monitoring tools easy to access, user-friendly and affordable, and that can take many forms. I can see Peckiiless developing several technologies and offering them as B2B solutions to larger industry players, organisations and healthcare providers, who can use them to make healthcare more accessible. The facial scan already has use cases that fit that model.
Finally, where does the name Peckiiless come from?
The name was inspired by a non-toxic mushroom called Hydnellum peckii. When I was looking for a name, I noticed that it looks like the fingertips of people with diabetes who prick their finger several times a day, covered in small red drops. So Peckiiless means “without bleeding”.
