GREENVILLE, N.C. — RFPi Inc. has received a $250,000 small business research loan from the N.C. Biotechnology Center to develop a prototype of its proprietary blood-perfusion imaging device for use in outpatient clinics.
RFPi, a mid-stage startup company, is commercializing an imaging device that demonstrates in real time where and how well blood flows in vascular structures and critical tissues. RFPi’s patent-protected and copyrighted technology provides immediate visualization and quantification of blood flow and perfusion without needing injections, dyes, radiation or direct patient contact.
Other existing imagining modalities — such as X-ray, ultrasound, CT scan, MRI or PET scan — cannot provide real-time images and data about blood flow and perfusion without patient contact or risk.
RFPi’s technology relies upon low-energy lasers, high-speed imaging cameras and proprietary analysis techniques and flow-calculation algorithms to function.
The loan from the N.C. Biotechnology Center will allow RFPi’s researchers to work on scaling down the size of the imaging device to something office-based, said T. Bruce Ferguson, MD, Chief Medical Officer.
“When you look at the core intellectual property we’ve developed, there are multiple possible applications to achieve different objectives or outcomes,” he said.
A downsized mobile device will be useful in outpatient clinic settings, particularly in the field of wound care, a growing medical need given the country’s diabetic population.
“In the case of diabetic foot care — where tissue is not behaving normally and you’re trying to assess an overall strategy for treatment — this clinic device showing blood flow and perfusion would offer a health-care provider information he or she couldn’t get from any other technology,” Ferguson said. “It’s also non-invasive, and you can use it serially over multiple office visits to track wound progress without affecting the patient or delaying the clinic’s patient flow.”
About the N.C. Biotechnology Center
The N.C. Biotechnology Center is a private, non-profit corporation supported by the N.C. General Assembly. Its mission is to transform North Carolina’s life-science opportunities into economic prosperity through innovation, commercialization, education and business growth. Established in 1984, the center continues to help redefine the concept of biotech and serves as a vital economic engine for North Carolina by adapting scientific changes spinning from the state’s academic research labs and entrepreneurial companies.
RFPi aspires to become a leader in real-time, non-invasive medical imaging. A mid-stage company, RFPi is pioneering breakthrough medical imaging technologies to improve surgical outcomes, reduce health-care costs and hospital readmissions, and enhance patient care.
RFPi’s patented and copyrighted intellectual properties propelled the creation of its iCertainty™ platform, which provides immediate visualization and quantification of blood flow and perfusion without injections and dyes, radiation or the need for direct patient contact. Videos demonstrating how RFPi’s iCertainty™ platform works can be seen on the company’s website at www.rfpi-co.com.