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September 22, 2020
NANOBIOFAB Awarded a $250,000 Defense Health Agency SBIR grant
Frederick, MD (September 2020) - Nanobiofab, a Frederick-based nanotechnology startup, was
awarded a $250,000 Defense Health Agency (DHA) SBIR Program grant for their, “Inkjet
assisted Nano printing sensing platform for high-throughput flexible sensors
discovery” proposal.
Nanobiofab has worked continuously to meet the challenge of
developing and manufacturing advanced sensing nanomaterials and equipment for
the reliable fabrication of wearable and flexible sensors used in
medical/health monitoring devices. This grant will be an immense help to
Nanobiofab in future research. Nanosensors are creating new opportunities
in medical simulation, wearable electronics, epidermal electronic systems,
human-machine interfaces, soft robotics, and other health monitoring devices.
In the past, the development of new nanosensors was very labor-intensive and
time-consuming. Nanobiofab realized early on that the combination of enhanced
automatically controlled high-throughput material generation and detection with
heightened data processing capabilities, would for the first time, enable
highly efficient, highly sensitive, low-cost and reliable nanosensors.
“The driving strategy for Nanobiofab is to build and deliver
a high-yield synthesis and discovery platform to the military, sensor vendors and eventually the
general medical/healthcare markets. The applications in the
Defense, Healthcare/medical simulation, Wearable market, and
Clinical/Hospital markets are immense,” says Xiaonao Liu, the founder of the
company.
“We are extremely proud of all Nanobiofab’s accomplishments!
This DHA SBIR grant will help them accelerate their innovation, and will put
them even farther along the path to success,” added Kathie Callahan Brady, the
CEO of Frederick Innovative Technology Center Inc. (FITCI), a technology
incubator hosting the company. Aside from being a part of the incubator,
Nanobiofab has also graduated from FITCI’s The Edge Accelerator in 2019,
winning the second overall place in the final Demo Day competition.
There is an unmet need for simulator-type training systems
for the monitoring of medical trainees including for diagnosis and surgical
skill development. Though mannequins have been shown to create
high-quality simulation training in a multitude of different medical procedures
and patient cases, they lack the ability to simulate specific battlefield
injuries such as burns, tissue trauma, and in some cases, exposure to chemical
warfare agents and toxic industrial chemicals. To resolve these issues,
simulators such as “smart” mannequins were developed to objectively assess the
competence of apprentices and provide instant feedback on their performance. To
enable “mannequin feedback,” mannequins can be fitted with highly accurate and
objective flexible sensors. Some have been integrated into artificial skin
pads, watches, bands, and clothes to measure the piercing location, heart rate,
body temperature, and pressure applied. However, the multiplicity of sensing
needs and sensitivity has not been met to date. Nanosensors have incredible
potential to serve in this capacity, as flexible detectors that can fit all
geometries. Today’s nanotech has several big challenges, such as limited
functionality, stability, healthy geometries, cost, and screening
time for desired functionality. Nanobiofab’s AI-Nano platform will resolve
these technical issues.
Nanobiofab has built the world's fastest high-throughput synthesis
and discovery platform
that offers broader sensing materials, improved sensor robustness, and embedded decision-making
intelligence. This is a critical step toward a minimally sized and exceptionally
functional product design. That effort greatly accelerates scaled-up
high-throughput designs. Nanobiofab can fabricate nanosensor arrays on silica,
ceramic and glass substrate to monitor body emitted chemical vapors, which through
this, monitors health and disease. Based on the platform, Nanobiofab has
successfully discovered a sensor to detect skin emanated volatile organic
compounds and has made a wearable device for monitoring body metabolism. “This
provides Nanobiofab the development capabilities combined with expertise in
R&D and manufacturing sensors in the flexible sensor field”, added Liu.
_______________________
Nanobiofab is a Frederick-based startup that delivers
an innovative, wearable solution to measure the physiological status of
individuals through new smart scent technologies. With super nanomaterial screening robots, Nanobiofab
specializes in wearable, intelligent, nanotech based healthcare and medical
devices designed to be accurate, simple to use and affordable for people and
their pets. Their wearable iNose allows people to live happier and healthier.
For more
information about Nanobiofab, please follow the link http://nanobiofab.com/
Contact:
XiaoNao Liu
