East Providence startup takes product to market
Imagine a mobile medical system that enables a field medic to measure a patient’s vital signs and upload them to a remote computer server, where they could then be retrieved via the Internet and analyzed by a physician anywhere in the world.
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Stop imagining. Such technology exists, right here in Rhode Island, at a company called cyberMDx in East Providence. And after more than six years of developing its MDxNET system, the startup is bringing the product to market.
“We often think of it as a clinic in a box,” said John D. Coleman, a biomedical engineer and chief technology officer for cyberMDx.
The mobile system’s medical equipment includes an EKG (electrocardiogram) machine, an ultrasound probe for two- and three-dimensional readings, and a spirometer to measure breathing functions. Within the mobile unit is a laptop with a wireless Internet link.
The systems come either in a carrying case or a larger cart. A military medic could, say, use the case model (called the MDxPAC) to perform an ultrasound on a wounded soldier on a battlefield.
The cart version is designed, according to Coleman, for use in more stationary settings such as medical clinics in prisons or athletic facilities. Beyond those settings, Coleman sees possibilities in emergency medicine, disaster response, maritime, military, airline and remote locations for the cart or case models.
The Food and Drug Administration in March cleared cyberMDx’s product for sale in the United States and other countries that accept the agency’s approval. The company has two prototypes of the cart model in circulation to demonstrate its usefulness to prospective buyers, Coleman said (the company declined to discuss pricing for the models at this time).
Correct Care Solutions, a Nashville-based medical services contractor, began using the MDxPAC on June 12 at Lansing Correctional Facility in Kansas.
Prison employees can, for example, use the technology to perform an ultrasound on an inmate complaining of abdominal pain, Coleman said. Away from the prison, a doctor can view the ultrasound results and decide whether or not to hospitalize the inmate.
“It’s very expensive to have to take a prisoner out of that prison and take them to a hospital,” Coleman said. “There are a lot of costs because of security issues that are involved.
“You want to have the diagnostic tools to decide how severe a particular injury might be,” he added. “Our system gives them the capability to make those types of decisions, and can potentially save them a tremendous amount of money.”
A second trial took place last year at two horse tracks in California. The trials showed “significant patient and medical practice benefits and demonstrated the value of enhanced telehealth capabilities in sports medicine,” said Dr. David Seftel, head of the two tracks’ medical clinics, in a statement.
Meanwhile, Coleman said, the company is working on adding a complete blood laboratory to the mobile medical system. Other potential add-ons include an otoscope, dermascope and ophthalmoscope.
Coleman, 50, founded the biomedical company (then called MediTEQ) in 2001 with the portable ultrasound technology, which he helped develop while working at a Fraunhofer Institute research center in Providence.
“I was always very interested from the day I came on [at Fraunhofer in 1995] in someday taking technology that I had developed and spinning it out to form a company,” Coleman said.
The Slater Technology Fund, a state-financed firm that invests in startups in Rhode Island, loaned Coleman $75,000 to help launch the company, he said. In 2004, the young firm received seed capital from private investors, including venture capital firm Entre Ireland. Entre’s chief executive, Louis L. Davis, then became the company’s CEO.
Under Davis’ leadership, then-MediTEQ acquired cyberMDx and its patent on remote diagnostics equipment, which the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had developed for spaceship crews. It also took the company’s name.
Right now, Coleman said, the five-person company is in talks with medical officials in South Africa, Romania and Hungary to conduct demonstrations. Coleman said he plans to meet with officials in South Africa in August, and plans are to have three MDxPACs there by the end of the year.
Thus far, Coleman said, potential clients have asked for demonstrations to prove that the technology suits their needs. The demos will enable cyberMDx to customize the technology for each client. “The issue,” he said, “is getting a buy-in from the customer.”
