Five Questions With: Vishnu Dantu

Vishnu Dantu, student researcher at Brown University’s School of Engineering studying applied mathematics and biology, is one of three co-founders of Predictive Optics, which is developing a brain vascular imaging system that will allow neurosurgeons to accurately visualize cerebrovascular health.

The system is intended to reduce time within the operating room and improve surgical outcomes. The device is a portable and wearable imager that evaluates cerebrovascular health by measuring retinal blood flow differences between the eyes. 

Predictive Optics won the MedTech/Life Sciences Award in the Rhode Island Business Plan Competition at the Rhode Island Nursing Education Center at South Street Landing in Providence May 17. The company received $15,000 in cash and $52,400 in professional and consulting services as part of the award. Providence Business News asked Dantu to elaborate on his work.

 

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PBN: What inspired your research into this area?

DANTU: Growing up, I’ve witnessed how health inequality plagues lower-income communities. As I started becoming more involved in health advocacy, I realized that a lot of health care reform could be driven by advances in technology. Advances in telemedicine, for example, can make care more accessible and even predictive and preventive.

Once I came to Brown, I began taking courses in various scientific fields such as applied math, biology, computer science and engineering. I found that these courses paired well with the humanities courses I was taking. This interdisciplinary approach not only helped me understand some of the socioeconomic determinants of disease with an empathetic lens, but it also gave me the practical scientific background required to approach these problems.

After listening to physicians in different medical specialties and patients, I encountered a shared frustration with the accessibility and objectivity of clinical brain health evaluation. I soon began working on leveraging my background in biomedical optics to build a telemedicine-based solution for this frustration, and I’ve been fortunate enough to get guidance from scientific advisers at Brown and elsewhere since I’ve started.

Additionally, I’ve been blessed to work with my two co-founders at Brown, Shivam Gandhi and Greg Fine, who share my passion and enthusiasm for revolutionizing preventive care.

PBN: How does the wearable device work?

DANTU: Our device fits securely over a patient’s eyes and can even be used on an unconscious patient. Once the device is placed on the patient’s face, a laser light source and camera activate to image the patient’s retinal blood vessels. The images are then used as input for our proprietary computer vision and data processing algorithms that determine the patient’s total retinal blood flow.

PBN: You say the device will optically evaluate cerebrovascular health – please elaborate.

DANTU: The device images a patient’s retinal blood vessels using a laser light source and camera that captures the back-scattered light. Our proprietary algorithms then quantitatively determine total retinal blood flow from these images.

A patient’s cerebral and eye health can then be assessed by evaluating total retinal blood flow against predetermined flow thresholds for disease. This assessment will help a physician determine which follow-up diagnostic tests to order and/or how to diagnose and treat the patient.

PBN: How far along is the startup? What’s your next step?

DANTU: Predictive Optics is still in the research and development phase. We are currently building a clinical-ready prototype and are planning our first round of preclinical human trials for this fall. The Cox Business Get Started RI competition was a great experience for us, and we’ve been able to use the connections from this to help further develop our venture.

PBN: Do you have any testimonials from people that have used the device?

DANTU: We plan to have our preliminary end-user data and testimonies after our preclinical human trial this fall.

Rob Borkowski is a PBN staff writer. Email him at Borkowski@PBN.com.