Sensate Biosystems LLC in Elyria, Ohio, has won a $200,000 Ohio Third Frontier grant to commercialize a fitness patch that tracks the lactate levels of wearers during exercise.
One of four startups to be approved for $800,000 in technology validation and startup grants on Wednesday, Sensate Biosystems was created in 2022 to commercialize biosensor technology developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory and its Nano Bio-Materials Consortium, both located at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.
In 2018, the research laboratory and materials consortium partnered with Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland to create wearable sensors that measure biomarkers in the Air Force's airmen and guardians. The term "biomarker" refers to any physiological or molecular information that can be tracked for human health, the lab said in a 2022 statement.
Wearable sensor technology has the potential to quantitatively measure human stress levels during Air Force missions, notify personnel to return to safety zones and monitor biomolecular responses in those who become sick or injured, the laboratory said.
In 2022, the biomaterials consortium provided funding that Case Western Reserve used to license the laboratory's sensor patent, assemble its Sensate Biosystems team and kickstart the company to develop wearable molecular sensor research for use in the commercial market.
Sensate Biosystems' first application of the technology is to develop a sensor that measures lactate — a byproduct produced in the body during normal metabolism — that elevates during exercise. Blood lactate concentration is one of the most often measured parameters during athletic performance testing, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information.
Mark Chance, who is well-known in Cleveland as a Case Western Reserve professor and biotech investor and entrepreneur, leads Sensate Biosystems as its chief science officer.
Sensate Biosystems is located in the Great Lakes Innovation and Development Enterprise (GLIDE) business incubator at Lorain County Community College.
