A pair of Arizona medical startups have been awarded more than $1.2 million in separate small business grants from the National Science Foundation as they develop new treatment options.
The largest of the two grants is going to Surprise-based biotechnology company ReSuture, which is getting $996,413 in Phase II Small Business Research, or SBIR, grant money to support commercialization of its technology, which is intended to use simulated surgery, sensing and machine learning to improve vascular surgical operations.
The technology is “a combination of lifelike physical simulations, novel sensors, and robust data analysis,” as ReSuture co-founder and COO Benjamin Knapp put it in a statement. He said the funds will help with sensor integration and commercial scaling of an open vascular training system, development of sensors and data analysis for surgical performance using machine learning, and a developing a feasibility study on an end-vascular training system that can evaluate surgical performance.
ReSuture’s other co-founder, CEO Hannah Eherenfeldt, said the technology answers a vital demand in the medical field.
"Surgeons and medical device manufacturers are looking for solutions to learn and train outside of the operating room," Eherenfeldt sad in a statement. "ReSuture is proposing a means by which to improve perioperative care and surgical accessibility, reduce the economic impact of complications and operative training, and streamline medical device sales and development.
ReSuture was founded in 2019 and received $256,000 in a Phase I SBIR grant in 2021. Eherenfeldt said that funding was instrumental in the work done to date. The company said its work has been adopted by device manufacturers W.L. Gore, Teleflex Medical, Becton Dickinson, Endologix, and surgical residency programs at Tulane Medical Center, McMaster University, and the Mayo Clinic.
Work based on the grant will involve collaboration with Arizona State University researcher Dr. Baoxin Li, who has a lab at ASU’s department of Computer Science and Engineering. There, the team will develop machine learning algorithms to classify surgical skill based on data collected from ReSuture’s sensors.
Metfora LLC
The second SBIR grant is a Phase I award of $255,706 to University of Arizona startup Metfora LLC, which is working on a way to detect chronic diseases by analyzing metabolites.
The technology was originally developed by associate professors Russian Rafikov and Olga Rafikova at the UArizona College of Medicine-Tucson. It uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to identify the metabolite “fingerprints” of diseases in an attempt to spot those diseases quicker than can be done by current methods.
The grant-based research aims to refine a metabolite diagnostic blood test that can reveal cancer, chronic heart and lung disorders and diabetes. Such a method could alter the use of diagnostic methods such as biopsies, colonoscopies and heart catheterization and save money for patients and providers, Metfora said.
Metfora’s technology uses mass spectrometry and artificial intelligence to identify mild chronic disease conditions before overt symptoms are evident.
“Receiving the SBIR grant from the NSF is a significant milestone for Metfora and a testament to the potential of our innovative technology,” Rafikov said in a statement. “This grant will support our continued growth and development, allowing us to further our mission of revolutionizing disease diagnostics and positively impacting society. We are grateful for the recognition from the NSF and look forward to leveraging this funding to drive our progress and success.”
Metfora got its start in 2020 through Tech Launch Arizona, which is UArizona’s office that commercializes research inventions. The company’s CEO is Martin Fuchs.
"This is a huge accomplishment for the Metfora team," said Bruce Burgess, director of venture development at TLA. "Being awarded an SBIR grant is a signal that this technology and this startup team are on the right path and well on their way to advancing a technology that would provide significant benefit to millions of patients suffering from chronic disease."
