Luminate Medical is developing technology designed not only to reduce the side effects of cancer treatment, but to change where and how that treatment is delivered.
Cancer treatment can be measured in many ways — in scans, blood tests, treatment cycles and survival rates. But for patients, the experience is also measured in the hours spent in hospital, the physical side effects of chemotherapy, and the disruption that treatment can bring to everyday life.
It is that human dimension of cancer care that a Galway medtech company is increasingly seeking to address.
Founded in 2018 as a spin-out from the University of Galway by Aaron Hannon, Dr Barbara Oliveira and Professor Martin O’Halloran, Luminate Medical began with a deceptively simple ambition: to use technology to reduce some of the debilitating side effects associated with cancer treatment.
Today, that ambition has expanded into a much broader vision — one that stretches from preventing chemotherapy-induced hair loss and nerve damage to helping move certain cancer treatments out of hospitals and into patients’ homes.
At the heart of Luminate’s technology is an alternative to traditional cold capping. Rather than freezing the scalp in an effort to reduce blood flow, Luminate has developed automated, localised microvascular compression therapy.
Lily device
Its Lily device uses a network of pneumatic bladders and soft robotics to apply carefully controlled pressure to the superficial blood vessels of the scalp. The principle is straightforward: temporarily restrict blood flow to the area surrounding the hair follicles, limiting the amount of chemotherapy reaching them.
The result is a portable, helmet-like device designed to fit around 85 per cent of the general population while allowing patients greater freedom of movement during treatment.
But hair loss is only one part of the problem Luminate is tackling.
Its Lilac technology is aimed at peripheral neuropathy, one of the more persistent complications associated with some chemotherapy drugs. Damage to nerves in the hands and feet can result in numbness, tingling and pain, and in some cases those effects can continue long after treatment has finished.
Lilac takes the same fundamental idea of controlled compression and applies it through wearable gloves and boots, restricting blood flow to the extremities during chemotherapy.
It is an example of what makes Luminate’s approach distinctive: rather than trying to treat the consequences of chemotherapy after they appear, the technology is designed to intervene during treatment itself.
The company’s technology is now moving through a crucial phase of clinical development.
The PREVAIL trial, launched in 2025, is evaluating Lily across clinical sites in the United States, including Mercy Health clinics in Ohio. The trial is expected to conclude by the end of 2026.
At the same time, the IMPACT trial is examining Lilac in a randomised, double-blind controlled study involving 12 clinical sites. Among the participating institutions are Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the University of Minnesota in the US, alongside St James’s Hospital in Dublin.
Geographical spread
For a company that began as a university spin-out in Galway, the geographical spread of those trials illustrates how quickly the operation has developed.
And while the clinical trials continue, Luminate has been building what may ultimately prove to be an even more significant part of its business: changing the location of cancer care itself.
Its Lotus programme is based on a striking observation from clinical research — chemotherapy patients can spend approximately one in every three days in hospital or an infusion clinic.
For patients, that can mean long journeys, waiting rooms, time away from work and family, and a healthcare experience that can become increasingly dominated by hospital visits.
Lotus is designed to challenge that model.
The programme combines a patient-led auto-injector with remote monitoring technology, with the aim of allowing certain low-risk anti-cancer therapies to be administered safely in the home.
Rather than asking the patient to repeatedly travel to a hospital for treatment, the system is intended to put more of the process in the hands of the patient, while allowing healthcare professionals to maintain oversight remotely.
Clinical studies of the Lotus auto-injector and monitoring technologies are expected to begin in the first half of 2026.
The programme received €6.4 million through the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund, helping Luminate develop the technology behind this next stage of its vision. The company has also been building interest among healthcare organisations in the US, with plans to make home cancer care available through 40 partner oncology clinics.
That expansion comes as Luminate enters a new phase of growth.
In January 2026, the company announced an expanded $21 million Series A funding round, bringing total funding raised beyond the $50 million mark. The round was co-led by Lachy Groom and ARTIS Ventures, with participation from Western Alliance Life Sciences and existing investors including 8VC, Y Combinator, Atlantic Bridge, Faber, SciFounders and Elkstone.
The funding is about more than developing devices. It is also funding people.
Luminate plans to create 130 new jobs over the next three years, with recruitment spanning software development, electronics, clinical research, mechanical design and manufacturing at its Galway operation. The company is also building its US-based workforce, including oncology nurses, pharmacists and healthcare administrators.
It is an increasingly international operation, but Galway remains at its centre.
The company’s roots in the University of Galway are reflected in a business that combines engineering, software, clinical research and medical science. Its ambitions, meanwhile, extend well beyond the city — into hospitals and homes across the United States and potentially much further afield.
Extraordinary journey
There is an important distinction in Luminate’s story. This is not simply about inventing another medical device.
The Lily and Lilac platforms seek to reduce some of the physical consequences of chemotherapy. Lotus goes further, asking whether the traditional setting for cancer treatment — the hospital infusion chair — should always be the setting at all.
That is a much bigger question.
As cancer care faces growing demand, healthcare systems are under pressure to deliver treatment efficiently while maintaining safety and improving the experience for patients. Luminate’s proposition is that technology can help achieve both by moving appropriate care closer to where people actually live.
For a Galway company born from university research, it represents an extraordinary journey.
What began with an attempt to protect hair follicles and nerves during chemotherapy has evolved into a broader attempt to make cancer treatment less disruptive, more patient-centred and increasingly capable of being delivered at home.
The technology is still progressing through clinical trials and regulatory pathways, so the full impact of that vision remains to be established.
But the direction of travel is clear.
From its base in Galway, Luminate Medical is no longer simply asking how cancer treatment can be made easier to endure.
It is asking whether, with the right technology, some of that treatment might not need to happen in hospital at all.
