ECE Department Spin-Off Advances to Final Phase of NIH Competition
A medical device startup cofounded by electrical and computer engineering professor Soheil Ghiasi at the University of California, Davis, has made it to the third and final round of the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics Technology Fetal Monitoring Challenge, a National Institutes of Health competition for advancing fetal monitoring technology.
Called Storx Technologies, the startup is seeking to address a longstanding health issue of fetal asphyxiation by providing the first-of-its-kind non-invasive monitor of a baby’s oxygen levels during birth. The device builds on Ghiasi's patented work on transabdominal fetal oximetry, which uses infrared sensors and groundbreaking algorithms to provide real-time oxygen saturation data of a baby in the womb.
By making it to the final stage of the competition, Storx Technologies joins five other finalists in receiving a $75,000 award. Each team will use the money to refine their technology and mitigate any commercialization risks with help from technical experts.
The competition, which is thanks to a partnership between the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will announce its grand prize winners later this year.