Codit Helps Nipro Transition To Data-Driven, Personalized Care
To enable hyper-personalized and preventive care, Nipro is developing a new digital healthcare infrastructure with Codit as its cloud and AI partner. This collaboration lays the groundwork for smarter, data-driven dialysis care.
The healthcare of the future will be hyper-personalized and preventive. The focus is shifting to the prevention of diseases and care that is tailored to the needs of individual patients. The Japanese medtech company Nipro, which is active worldwide in dialysis equipment and pharmaceutical solutions, is making this a spearhead of its strategy. From its European headquarters in Mechelen, Belgium, the company is building the digital infrastructure that makes this transition possible. They are counting on the cloud and AI expertise of technology partner Codit.
Dialysis, the purification of the blood of patients with kidney failure, has been around for more than 80 years. Although the technology is on point, dialysis centers are facing problems. Hospitals are facing financial challenges, while nephrologists (kidney specialists) are receiving more and more patients to treat. “Solutions are needed to structurally improve dialysis care, for patients, healthcare staff and hospitals,” says John Gesquiere, general manager of Nipro Digital Technologies Europe. “However, the biggest evolutions in dialysis technology are behind us. The real innovation today comes from data. We want to evolve from a manufacturer to a digital player, enabling hospitals to organize care in smarter ways, through the use of data and AI.”
Nipro is one of the world’s leading suppliers of equipment and accessories for kidney dialysis. The company produces machines and disposables and works in daily contact with hospitals and nephrologists. That close collaboration gives Nipro a clear view of the challenges in dialysis care.
Nurses spend too much time on administration. Hospitals often need to change their planning when a patient experiences a drop in blood pressure during treatment. Nephrologists want better insight into the condition of their patients so they can monitor them more effectively.
“Digital technology is the lever that can solve that,” says Gesquiere.
Codit's expertise as an accelerator
The key lies in data. Nipro’s NephroFlow software platform brings together data from dialysis machines, laboratories, and patient records, so that care teams can better tailor each treatment to the patient.
To further leverage all that information, a robust data platform was needed where all data could be securely consolidated and analyzed. “Our teams have knowledge of AI and data science, but we needed a partner who could build the right architecture and help accelerate it,” says John Gesquiere.
Nipro called on Codit, which has broad expertise in setting up complex cloud and data structures. Together, they developed a data lake in Microsoft Azure Databricks, which serves as the hub of Nipro’s digital ecosystem. “Codit has helped us to lay the foundations for a secure cloud environment in which we can train and test our algorithms. They not only helped to build the technology but also acted as a sparring partner to put our ambitions into practice. Without their expertise in cloud and AI, it would never have gone so fast.”
The choice for Microsoft Azure was obvious. John Gesquiere: “We work with sensitive, personal data. This cloud offers the highest guarantees in terms of security and compliance.” And although the solution is completely cloud-based, it takes into account the fact that hospitals sometimes still work partly on-premise.
“We have the ability to send data from such hospitals to the cloud in an anonymized and aggregated way. This allows us to train our AI models, while each institution still retains control over its own data.”
AI helps prevent complications
The first concrete application for the new data platform is an AI model that can predict a sudden drop in blood pressure during dialysis. “For nurses, that is one of the biggest challenges,” says Gesquiere. “AI will ensure that we can predict that risk, so that the nurse can intervene in time. That means less stress for the care team and more comfort for the patients.”
Tests will start in early 2026 in a number of Belgian hospitals, where the algorithm will initially run in the background with the care team. This allows the model to be further refined based on real data.
“The tools are ready, the infrastructure is on point. We can now test our first algorithms live. This is a huge step forward for our digital transformation, and it brings us closer to our goal: more time for care, less time on administration.”
Data as the engine for high-performance care
Nipro is already thinking ahead: the technology that supports dialysis can also be used in the future for operational optimization within dialysis centers. John Gesquiere: “With well-structured data and the right algorithms, numerous possibilities open up: think of planned maintenance at the right time or more efficient use of people and resources. In this way, we are building a smart, comprehensive solution that facilitates the work of healthcare professionals and enables patient-centric care models.”
In the longer term, Nipro wants to expand the cloud platform globally together with Codit. “We have a strategic foundation on which we want to build further. The cloud platform is scalable, allows innovations to be rolled out faster, and keeps costs under control. Our ambition is to bring together data from different countries – of course within a strict legal and ethical framework. Why? The broader the dataset, the more powerful our models become, and the more possibilities there will be,” explains Gesquiere. “ I’m convinced that this approach will also provide solutions for countries currently facing a shortage of nephrologists. Ultimately, for us, digital transformation is about better quality of care and higher patient satisfaction.”
A word from the client
“Through the cloud and AI, we are building the digital healthcare system of the future.”
John Gesquiere General Manager of Nipro Digital Technologies Europe
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