Radisens: Decentralized Lab Testing Technology Built on the Convergence between Microelectronics and Medical Diagnostics

At present, the typical procedure for blood tests is not nearly as efficient as that. What often happens is that a physician first refers a patient to a blood-draw clinic where a phlebotomist draws a vial or multiple vials of blood. Depending on the type of test, results can take days or even weeks to return to the physician, often leading the patient anxiously waiting in the interim.

Because of the inefficiencies and time delays often involved in traditional blood testing, and the drive by insurers to weed out costs from the healthcare system, the point-of-care blood testing market has experienced high growth in recent years. “There are billions of dollars of inefficiencies that can be removed from this market," says Jerry O'Brien, the company’s CEO.

Many incumbent point-of-care instruments used for chronic disease management test for only a single analyte or a narrow disease target in the blood, and often to a much less performance level than their central laboratory equivalent. “[Most instruments in this market] are looking at a very narrow window of chronic disease, requiring myriad of instruments for a physician to provide a routine chronic disease test lab" he says. “At Radisens, we integrate multiple blood tests into a single connected device, replacing the ten to 15 instruments that a physician would ordinarily require for routine clinical testing.” O’Brien explains.

Yet, at the same time, a number of studies have come out that point to the benefits of getting back instant blood test results. “If a physician can report immediately on blood tests to the patient, the patient is more likely to improve compliance with their medication, and thereby significantly reducing the risk factors for chronic disease,” O’Brien says. Non-compliance is a huge and costly problem, presenting a ticking time-bomb for the healthcare system. Without adequate management, chronic diseases such as diabetes increase patients’ risk of heart attack, stroke, blindness, amputation, and kidney failure, leading to huge strains on an already overburdened healthcare system. Therefore, any technology that can improve chronic disease management could go far to help weed cost out the healthcare system, and improve patients long-term health.

The system Radisens developed could also be attractive to clinics because of its low price point. “We are very much aligned in the low-cost high-performance space. Our prototype already outperforms the clinical products that cost half a million dollars,” O’Brien says.

The technology that Radisens is working on is built upon the convergence between consumer electronics, centrifugal microfluidics, and medical diagnostics. Having carefully researched the market need, O’Brien began carefully assembling a world-class team in 2009 to develop a solution to the unmet need for fully decentralised chronic disease testing. “For example, Dr. Greg Kellogg in our Boston office is a world leader in centrifugal microfluidics,” O’Brien says. “Dr. Eoin Ó Nualláin was one of the early scientists to develop commercial HIV diagnostic tests.”

At present, the company has already received a considerable amount of funding. With the next funding round, however, the company plans on nothing short of transforming the diagnostics market. “[In the future,] you can imagine going to your physican for a routine check-up. He might say: I know you are not expecting a prostate test but give me a drop of blood and I can test that for you: Straight away. No biopsy. No stress, and once caught early, it can be treated, leading to even longer healthy years ahead.”

 Brian Buntz is the editor-at-large at UBM Canon's medical group. Follow him on Twitter at @brian_buntz.