Our team of expert volunteer judges selected the following pitches to advance in the SPIE Startup Challenge competition. Two from each track will have the opportunity to pitch their business at the Startup Challenge on Wednesday, 17 February at Photonics West!
Track 1: Point of Care, Biophotonics
Track 2: Imaging, Semiconductors, Displays
Track 3: Wearables, Diagnostics
Track 1: Point of Care, Biophotonics
Bold Biometrix, LLC
Know Your Numbers. Bold Biometrix, LLC monitoring patches help patients and their physicians understand their true blood pressure by recording trends over a seven day period.
Kyle Miller, Northwestern University Center for Device Development/ Bold Biometrix, LLC
http://www.boldbiometrix.com
Circulating tumor cell diagnostics
Cancer talks, we listen. We are developing a diagnostic instrument that uses sound waves to listen for the presence of cancer cells in a patient's blood sample.
Eric Strohm, Echofos Medical
http://www.echofos.com
Disease Diagnostic Group
What if we told you we could save one million lives every year with just refrigerator magnets and a laser pointer?
John Lewandowski, Disease Diagnostic Group
http://www.diseasediagnostic.com
Eta Diagnostics, Inc.
Massively Parallel Flow Cytometry for the Fast and Efficient Analysis of Rare Biological Cells and Particles
Michael Cumbo, Eta Diagnostics, Inc.
http://www.EtaDiagnostics.com
Optoacoustic Patient Monitoring
Using light and sound for the safe, accurate and noninvasive monitoring of fetal welfare during labor and delivery.
Graham Randall, Noninvasix
http://www.Noninvasix.com
Patented Neural Stem Cells Harvest
OPER Technology Limited is committed to develop and perfect innovative neurodegenerative disease therapy. We are the only group in the world that is able to safely and specifically harvest neural stem cells from the brain of a live subject by our strategically designed magnetic nanoparticles. This technology allows repeated neural stem cell extraction from the same live subject without raising any ethical issue nor threatening the life of the subject. Our pioneering autologous stem cell harvest technology and tailor-made magnetic nanoparticles were granted US patents.
N. P. Lui, OPER Technology Limited
http://opertechnology.com/
Rubitection
Addressing a common global healthcare problem with a low cost optical diagnostic tool called the Rubitect Assessment System (RAS). The RAS can be used in hospitals, long term care facilities, and home care agencies where it can improve care, reduce cost, and save lives. It represents a $5.2 Billion US market.
Sanna Gaspard, Rubitection
http://www.rubitection.com
Vibronix
Vibronix' MarginPAT system is a photoacoustic/ultrasound tomography system that can provide highly sensitive intraoperative margin assessment during lumpectomy within 5 min.
Pu Wang, Vibronix, Inc.
http://www.vibronixinc.com/
Track 2: Imaging, Semiconductors, Displays
3D nanoscale imaging
Double Helix replaces prediction with evidence at the single molecule level inside the individual cell, enabling seeing biology we would have otherwise missed.
Leslie Kimerling, Double Helix LLC
http://www.doublehelixoptics.com
Advanced Silicon Group
ASG has a highly innovative and low cost technology to manufacture silicon nanowire arrays in a controllable process. We are developing a platform technology based on these nanowires with applications in next generation of solar PV, biosensors, batteries, and beyond.
Fatima Toor, Advanced Silicon Group
Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, University of Iowa
http://www.advancedsilicongroup.com/
Holographic module for microscopes
This patented technology will allow life sciences researchers all over the world to convert their standard microscopes in cutting-edge multiphoton spatial light modulation microscopes, with a simple, plug and play device.
Paolo Pozzi, Holobe s.r.l.
http://holobe.eu/
Leverage the Future of Electronics
Astrileux's strategy is to design revolutionary advanced optical technologies that enable high volume manufacturing of next generation integrated circuits (IC) chips at 14 nm and smaller at significantly less cost.
Supriya Jaiswal, Astrileux Corporation
Multicore Photonics, Inc.
Imagine a world filled with "Smart" factories. Factories drawing together Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS's), the Internet of Things (IoT) and the Internet of Services to monitor physical processes, creating a virtual copy of the physical world and making decentralized decisions. Imagine Cyber-Physical Systems communicating and cooperating with each other and with humans in real time, both internal and cross-organization. This is Industry 4.0/IoT/Industrial Internet and the underlying definition of it's collective movement.
Darren Engle, Multicore Photonics, Inc.
http://www.multicore-photonics.com
PixelEXX Systems, Inc.
Cameras the size of a grain of sand with 62% more pixels to capture the critical details.
PixelEXX Systems: Seeing beyond the boundaries of the human eye.
Renee Carder, PixelEXX Systems, Inc.
http://pixelexx.com/
Solchroma Technologies, Inc.
Electroactive polymer-driven displays for sunlight-readable, large-area digital signage.
Roger Diebold, Solchroma Technologies
http://www.solchroma.com
Spectral Camera Lens
It's time that camera images move beyond Red Green and Blue. Our ColorFlow spectral Lens lets users see the chemicals in the scene, bringing your 'off the shelf camera' to a whole new level.
John Murphy, Stream Technologies Inc
http://www.streamtechinc.com
TheWhollySee
A system for marking and remote identification of multiple objects & people with high position accuracy in real time.
Dan Yanson, TheWhollySee
http://www.thewhollysee.com
Track 3: Wearables, Diagnostics
ColorSpritz
ColorSpritz uses a pioneering alternative to batteries that converts movement directly into electrical power. It is a soft and lightweight power source that is low-cost and friendly to the environment. Ideal for portable illumination, safety lighting, fitness products and more.
Timothy Jones, ColorSpritz
Diagnostic anSERS, Inc
Building a "Marijuana Breathalyzer" to answer the question, "How high is the suspect right now?"
Sean Virgile, Diagnostic anSERS, Inc
https://www.DiagnosticAnSERS.com
Extended depth of focus contact lens
Ask your optometrist about a presbyopia prescription for your contact lens that allows you to focus from far (infinity) to close (reading) and in-between including the television and the computer screen, your car dashboard and your watch. "No such thing," she will say. And when you tell her that UbiFocal has the perfect solution she will shout: "Get thee to UbiFocal!" If you need to have cataract surgery make sure you get UbiFocal with it. Or, if you want Lasik, also ask for Ubifocal.
Juan Rodriguez, Ubifocal.com
FabriXense
Our smart clothing provides active and continuous measure of biomedical parameters such as heart beat rhythm, breathing, and blood pressure without the need of having tight contact between the fabric and the body of the wearer.
Zeev Zalevsky, FabriXense
http://asherpolani.wix.com/fabrixense
Guaks: virtual reality you can wear
New Virtual Reality headsets are still quite bulky and heavy, causing a non-fully comfortable VR experience. GUAKS, with our freeform optical system as key enabling technology, is a 1/2 weight and 1/4 volume VR headset, while keeping all performance features.
Carmen Lastres, Limbak
Reflective displays for wearables
A new breed of ultra-high resolution, colourful and flexible reflective displays for wearables.
Peiman Hosseini, Bodle Technologies
http://www.bodletechnologies.com
Think Biosolution
Our current mobile application PulseR allows users to take a video of the face using the smartphone camera to visualise blood flow in real time as well as measure heart rate and respiratory rate.
Our second android application QuasaR allows users to measure their heart rate, respiratory rate, blood-oxygen level, as well as blood haemoglobin content using an armband while you are running, exercising, working or simply relaxing at home. We are testing out our first product PulseR in closed beta. Our second product Quasar is currently in prototype stage, as we work out the kinks.
Shourjya Sanyal, Think Biosolution
http://www.thinkbiosolution.com/
Wearable Vital Sign Monitor
tBPC's oCare Pro 100 is the industry's first finger-free wrist-worn pulse oximeter that measures pulse rate and blood oxygen at the wrist with micro-structured reflective optic sensor.
Jyh-Chern Chen, Taiwan Biophotonic Corporation
http://www.tbpchc.com
