Стартап из Университета Алабамы создал устройство для мгновенной диагностики здоровья легких

A startup at the University of Alabama at Birmingham is developing new methods and metrics that will measure lung health more precisely. Spiromatics was founded in 2023 by Sury P. Bhatt, M.D., Endowed Professor of Airways Disease in UAB’s Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine; Arie Nakhmani, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering; and Sandeep Bodduluri, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine. The company grew out of more than a decade of collaborative research at UAB. The founding team came together with a vision to transform lung imaging and spirometry, a common breathing test used to measure lung function, into a powerful tool for phenotyping, monitoring and predicting the progression of obstructive lung diseases such as COPD, asthma and bronchiectasis. Through their research, the founders developed a system of verified computational and AI-driven biomarkers that gather both classical and novel physiological indicators of lung health. With support from a National Institutes of Health Phase I Small Business Technology Transfer Award, the company has developed a prototype device and is preparing for clearance and commercialization from the United States Food and Drug Administration. One of Spiromatics’ most recent developments could change the way spirometry is accomplished. Instead of a procedure that takes up to 30 minutes and requires trained pulmonologists to interpret the results, the company’s device could automatically deliver the same results in half a minute. By making advanced lung testing faster and more accessible, Spiromatics hopes to improve early diagnosis, disease monitoring and patient outcomes while reducing healthcare costs. Spiromatics was the first startup aided by funding from the Bill L. Harbert Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship’s Blazer Bridge Fund. The Blazer Bridge Fund, which supports development of new UAB intellectual property for licensing or startup launch, has distributed nearly $1 million to 21 projects since its inception. The company was one of six projects selected for the Blazer Bridge Fund in 2023. “The initial funding from the Blazer Bridge Fund allowed us to begin developing the prototype and gather preliminary data sufficient to secure NIH Small Business Technology Transfer funding from the National Institutes of Health,” Nakhmani said. “Spiromatics is an exciting example of what the Blazer Bridge Fund was created to do — to help researchers turn innovative ideas into startups,” said Karthik Gopalakrishnan, Ph.D., senior director of the Harbert Institute. “We look forward to supporting more UAB innovators as they bring their technologies to the market.” Looking ahead, the founders plan to continue to refine their techniques and work to bring their device to market. “We plan to submit an NIH Phase II Small Business Technology Transfer proposal to get the device through FDA approval and bring it to manufacturing. We plan to work with a local Birmingham manufacturing company to bring the device to market,” Nakhmani said. “The next few years will be devoted to growing the company and its business operations in parallel with developing and improving our techniques to help more people.”