A Diagnostics & Imaging Week
ImaRX Therapeutics (Tucson, Arizona) reported receiving a $950,000 Phase I Small Business Technology Transfer Program (STTR) grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, a division of the National Institutes of Health, to study changes in the permeability of the blood-brain barrier with targeted microbubbles and ultrasound over a two year period.
Under the terms of this grant, ImaRx will evaluate whether microbubbles and transcranial ultrasound can safely enhance drug delivery across the blood-brain barrier.
Although vital for normal brain function, blood-brain barrier impermeability presents a problem when treating malignant and degenerative disorders of the central nervous system, such as brain cancer, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
ImaRx, in collaboration with Thomas Porter, MD, at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (Omaha) will begin work on the grant in the fall of 2007.
“This project will provide the foundation for the non-invasive use of transcranial ultrasound and intravenous microbubbles to target drug delivery across the blood-brain barrier,” said Porter.
ImaRx is a developer of therapies for vascular disorders.
In contract news:
• Masimo (Irvine, California), the inventor of Pulse CO-Oximetry and Read-Through Motion and Low Perfusion pulse oximetry, reported a partnership with Apria Healthcare (Lake Forest, California) to provide pulse oximetry products and accessories for Apria’s home healthcare business. Apria Healthcare is a provider of integrated home healthcare products and services, offering a comprehensive range of home respiratory therapy, diabetic supplies, medications and equipment, home infusion therapy and home medical equipment services.
Apria conducted a competitive bid in which Masimo was selected due to the superior clinical performance of its Masimo SET pulse oximetry technology, which significantly enhances the ability of Apria’s customers to detect hypoxic events in the home care setting. This will provide patients and caregivers with reliable warnings of these instances where blood oxygen levels begin to drop, which in turn will lead to expedient intervention and the delivery of the appropriate level of care.
Masimo develops patient monitoring technologies.
• Scivanta Medical (Spring Lake, New Jersey) has entered into a development agreement with Sparton Medical Systems (DeLeon Springs, Florida), a business group of Sparton Electronics Florida, (also DeLeon), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sparton (Jackson, Mississippi).
Sparton will provide Scivanta engineering and development support for the hardware component of the Hickey cardiac monitoring system.
The services to be provided by Sparton include: planning and development of design control documents; concept development, including mechanical, electrical and software design; completion of a detailed design and an engineering model; assembly of prototype models and preliminary design verification testing; the production of “pilot” devices using formal drawings and validated processes, and design verification testing on the “pilot” units.
Sparton estimates that it could bill up to $1.65 million for services and materials provided under the contract.
Scivanta has acquired exclusive worldwide rights to the Hickey cardiac monitoring system, a minimally-invasive esophageal catheter that provides distinct economic and patient benefits compared with existing heart monitoring devices. Sparton Medical Systems partners with OEMs and emerging biomedical companies to interface core technology into a complex medical laboratory instrument or point of care device.