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TESTING BONE STRENGTH Ohio University licenses technology to company to develop non-invasive osteoporosis diagnostic device
hio University has licensed a technology that can accurately estimate bone strength to Ohio startup company AEIOU Scientific LLC. AEIOU Scientific began offering the Cortical Bone Mechanics Technology™ for sale as a scientific research product during fall 2018. It also plans to begin conducting clinical trials in 2019 to gain approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to sell the technology as a medical device for osteoporosis diagnosis, according to company founder and CEO Jeff Spitzner. The Cortical Bone Mechanics Technology™ uses a vibrating ceramic probe placed against the forearm. The bone under the skin vibrates in response. “The more it vibrates, and the more slowly it vibrates, the weaker it is,” Spitzner said. “We’ve proven scientifically that this is a very accurate indicator of the strength of the bone.” The process is non-invasive and uses no radiation, he added. Anne Loucks, a professor of biological sciences in Ohio University’s College of Arts and Sciences, initiated development of the technology almost a decade ago. While conducting research on female athletes who experienced bone fractures, Loucks discovered that existing technologies didn’t accurately measure or predict bone strength. The Ohio Musculoskeletal and Neurological Institute provided seed funding to Loucks to support the project in 2014. In early 2016, Ohio University’s Innovation Strategy program awarded a team led by Loucks, co-inventor Lyn Bowman of the College of Arts and Sciences, and Brian Clark of the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine an $875,000 grant to further develop the technology, which is patent-pending. Spitzner, a
The scientific market for the product includes thousands of researchers who are studying human bone for various basic or clinical science issues. . 04 / P E R SPE CT I VE S
Columbus, Ohio-based entrepreneur, offered to become an executive mentor to the faculty research team, which was accepted into the I-Corps@Ohio program. The state program helps university inventors conduct research on the market potential for their technologies and learn how to develop startup companies. AEIOU Scientific also has received a $477,000 Phase 1 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop the medical device, as well as a $150,000 grant from the Ohio Third Frontier’s Technology Validation and Startup Fund to validate the scientific instrument with independent, clinical research groups in the state of Ohio, Spitzner reported. “Those two grants will prepare us for raising investments and growing the company,” he said. The scientific market for the product includes thousands of researchers who are studying human bone for various basic or clinical science issues, such as to understand osteoporosis or other bone diseases, to learn more about the impact of nutrition on bone health, or to study pharmaceuticals that could improve bone strength, Spitzner explained. AEIOU Scientific also is looking to the medical device market, as the Cortical Bone Mechanics Technology™ has