NORMAN, OKLA. (March 1,
2006) – Chad Roller, Ph.D., Vice President for Research
at Ekips Technologies, announced today that the company has been
awarded two Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR)
Phase I grants from the National Science Foundation. The NSF funds
total $200,000 and will support development of optical biosensors
in collaboration with Rice University and fabrication of advanced
lasers with the University of Oklahoma.
Ekips and Rice have proposed to develop handheld breath sensors to screen for, diagnose, and monitor therapies for kidney and liver diseases. The sensors will be based on quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy, a technology invented by scientists at Rice University. Professor Frank K. Tittel explained that “this new technology can help enable the development of inexpensive laser-based chemical sensors for breath analysis applications, and I am very excited about working with Ekips to bring it to the marketplace so that it can benefit as many people as possible”. Initial work will focus on designing a sensor to measure exhaled ammonia, a known biomarker reflecting nitrogenous waste built-up in the blood stream. Doctors and patients currently rely on infrequent blood tests to monitor nitrogenous waste built-up. By measuring exhaled ammonia, physicians can monitor the progress of each dialysis treatment, the most prominent treatment for people suffering from kidney disease. It is expected that more frequent monitoring with less invasive breath testing can improve the efficiency of dialysis treatment thus helping to reduce its cost. Treatments for kidney failure presently represent single largest expenditure in the Medicare budget, about $28 billion per year, and this expense is expected to double within the next five years.
The second grant will support the development of ultraviolet (UV) lasers and related sensor electronics. A number of technologies such as DNA sequencing instruments and sensors for detecting explosives or hazardous pathogens rely on UV light sources. “Ekips is strategically positioned to improve the performance of these chemical and biological sensors by using its licensed intellectual property from the University of Oklahoma and the University of California at Berkeley. The NSF grant will help drive the development,” commented Dr. Mark Yeary, Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Yeary has partnered with Ekips to develop miniature digital electronics systems to accompany the advanced UV sources that will be developed. The combined effort will lead to the commercialization of compact laser-based chemical and biological sensors with a variety of applications.
Ekips and Rice have proposed to develop handheld breath sensors to screen for, diagnose, and monitor therapies for kidney and liver diseases. The sensors will be based on quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy, a technology invented by scientists at Rice University. Professor Frank K. Tittel explained that “this new technology can help enable the development of inexpensive laser-based chemical sensors for breath analysis applications, and I am very excited about working with Ekips to bring it to the marketplace so that it can benefit as many people as possible”. Initial work will focus on designing a sensor to measure exhaled ammonia, a known biomarker reflecting nitrogenous waste built-up in the blood stream. Doctors and patients currently rely on infrequent blood tests to monitor nitrogenous waste built-up. By measuring exhaled ammonia, physicians can monitor the progress of each dialysis treatment, the most prominent treatment for people suffering from kidney disease. It is expected that more frequent monitoring with less invasive breath testing can improve the efficiency of dialysis treatment thus helping to reduce its cost. Treatments for kidney failure presently represent single largest expenditure in the Medicare budget, about $28 billion per year, and this expense is expected to double within the next five years.
The second grant will support the development of ultraviolet (UV) lasers and related sensor electronics. A number of technologies such as DNA sequencing instruments and sensors for detecting explosives or hazardous pathogens rely on UV light sources. “Ekips is strategically positioned to improve the performance of these chemical and biological sensors by using its licensed intellectual property from the University of Oklahoma and the University of California at Berkeley. The NSF grant will help drive the development,” commented Dr. Mark Yeary, Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Yeary has partnered with Ekips to develop miniature digital electronics systems to accompany the advanced UV sources that will be developed. The combined effort will lead to the commercialization of compact laser-based chemical and biological sensors with a variety of applications.
