Rhaeos, Inc., a private medical device company focused on the care of patients with hydrocephalus, announced today it was awarded a $4 million, multi-year grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program through the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). Grant funds will be used to expand the functionality of its FlowSense™ wireless noninvasive sensor to provide flow rate measurements and other quantitative data.
Designed to rapidly monitor ventricular shunt function in patients with hydrocephalus – a term for excess cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) that affects more than 1 million adults and children in the U.S. – FlowSense is a noninvasive wireless sensor that adheres to a patient’s skin above the implanted shunt tubing. Critical data on shunt functionality is measured in a matter of minutes and wirelessly transmitted to a mobile app to improve clinical decision making.
Under the NIH SBIR grant, Rhaeos will leverage their existing wireless sensor hardware to provide additional quantitative flow data to the clinician, giving insight into this currently inaccessible and highly relevant shunt performance metric. The grant will support substantial animal model validation, advanced algorithm development, and multi-center clinical investigations that will ultimately lead to a marketing submission to the FDA.