BioSensus, a company established by Drexel faculty in the Colleges of Medicine and Engineering and the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, has received $500,000 in start-up funding from BioAdvance, the Biotechnology Greenhouse of Southeastern Pennsylvania. The announcement was made by BioAdvance on a live Web cast on February 10.

BioSensus is developing ways for healthcare workers and patients to use miniaturized acoustic sensing technology for diagnostic and therapeutic monitoring at home and at the bedside. The company’s NanoAcoustic Blood Analyzer (NABA) measures blood coagulation properties, clotting times and platelet function with a single finger prick, like a blood glucose monitor used by diabetics. Without the NABA, rapid in-home and in-hospital testing of patients’ blood clotting status is not possible, as blood needs to be collected by technicians and sent to labs for analysis. The BioAdvance funding will allow BioSensus to develop the first commercial NABA prototype. The company’s nanoacoustic technology could also be developed for use in other personal healthcare monitoring, clinical examining of molecular and cellular functions and environmental and anti-terrorism testing.

“This is an outstanding example of collaboration between BIOMED, Engineering and the College of Medicine,” said Dr. Anil Rastogi, vice provost and vice president for entrepreneurship and technology commercialization. “The researchers involved have created a unique technology with broad applications in clinical medicine and healthcare.”

BioSensus is led by Dr. Ryszard Lec, co-founder, chief scientific officer and professor of biomedical engineering, science and health systems; Dr. J. Yasha Kresh, co-founder, chief biomedical officer, professor of cardiovascular medicine and surgery and research director of CT-Surgery and Cardiovascular Biophysics at the College of Medicine; and Dr. David M. Wootton, co-founder, senior scientist and assistant professor of mechanical engineering and mechanics.

BioAdvance was founded as part of a $2 billion initiative by the Commonwealth to strengthen its commitment to the life sciences.