Baltimore-based Astek Diagnostics is developing a point-of-care infection test system that can determine, within an hour, whether a patient has a urinary tract infection and which antibiotics are likely to be effective for treatment.

There were 8.1 million UTI-caused hospital visits in the U.S. last year, while 47 percent of those cases were treated with inappropriate antibiotics, according to the company. What’s more, 25 percent of sepsis cases were caused by UTIs. Overall, the cost of the mistreatment of UTIs across the U.S. was $1.6 billion.

While the company plans to go to market with its UTI system in 2025, its broader vision is to develop a test, through its Jiddu Platform, to confirm bacterial infections and assess antibiotic sensitivity across four sample types: urine, cerebrospinal fluid, effluent (wound exudate), and blood.

Astek CEO Mustafa Al-Adhami is a University of Maryland, Baltimore County alumnus, M.S. ‘15, Ph.D. ‘20, mechanical engineering.

The company licensed its testing technologies from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Al-Adhami is one of the inventors on the patent.

Astek has engaged in four MIPS projects, including one phase two: “Eugris: One-Hour Antibiotic Sensitivity Testing,” “One-hour Antibiotic Sensitivity Testing for UTI” (two phases),  and “Design Generation of Microfluidic Devices Using AI.”

Funding:
Astek has raised $5.3 million in investment funding, with backers such as the Abell Foundation, Ayana Capital, TEDCO, Maryland Momentum Fund, and Y Combinator. The company has also garnered $2.3 million in non-dilutive grant funding from sources that include the NSF, FDA, and NIH.

Programs:
MIPS, I-Corps, Maryland Momentum Fund

Rockville-based Liatris is commercializing high-performance insulation that is easy to install, environmentally friendly, non-flammable, and non-toxic.

The company’s insulation products are designed to fill an increasingly critical need for fire resistance in buildings while not sacrificing any of the key strengths of today’s insulation.

For its insulation, Liatris is developing a proprietary nanocomposite using readily available inorganic materials (eliminating highly flammable organic plastics) and controlling the properties of materials at a much smaller scale—micro and nano. The result is insulation that is more effective, non-flammable, and better for the environment.

The company’s product is designed to be a drop-in replacement for foam insulation, with the non-combustibility of mineral wool, and the potential to achieve the industry’s lowest installed costs.

Liatris has engaged in five MIPS projects, including one phase two: “Industrial Insulation Using Low-Cost Nanopore Foam” (two phases), “Non-Flammable Cellulose Based Building Insulation,” “Machine Learning Enhancement of Aerogel Insulation,” and “AI Enabled Design of Ultra-Durable Insulation Film.”

Funding:
$6.1 million

Employees:
9

Programs:
MIPS, I-Corps

N5 Sensors’ mission is to keep people safe from environmental hazards through a cloud-connected ecosystem of smarter sensors and by leveraging shared data and AI.

The company’s wildfire detection platform, called N5Shield™, deploys networked, ground-based Internet of Things (IoT) sensors that rapidly detect and track the precise location of fires. The sensors are budget-friendly, small, easy to install, and are both solar- and battery-powered. The system provides real-time alerts without the need of a mobile cellular service.

The N5Shield™’s accompanying system is an end-to-end architecture that leverages cloud-connected smart sensors collecting data non-stop, combined with artificial intelligence, an intuitive dashboard, and real-time alerts.

The product can also detect hazardous air quality levels and measure the presence of nitrogen dioxide, ozone, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), chlorine, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and flammable gasses, including hydrogen.

The product can also detect hazardous air quality levels and measure the presence of nitrogen dioxide, ozone, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), chlorine, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and flammable gasses, including hydrogen.

With installations in 15 U.S. states and four Canadian territories, N5 Sensors’ N5Shield™ protects 1 million acres of land and has provided 185 fire alerts and 1,588 air quality warnings.

Company Founder and CEO Abhishek Motayed developed N5 Sensors’ technology jointly with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) while serving as a research faculty member at UMD’s Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics (IREAP). N5 licensed the technology from the university.

With 31 employees, N5 Sensors has two locations in Rockville, Md. The company participated in one of the first I-Corps cohorts in the DMV area.

N5 Sensors has engaged in seven MIPS projects, including three two-phase projects: “Chip-Scale Chemical Sensors for Smart Phones” (two phases), “A Digital System-On-Chip CO2 Sensor” (two phases), “Advanced Wildfire Detection using Multiple Sensing” (two phases), and “Advanced Chemical Sensor Array ML.”

Programs:
MIPS, I-Corps, CBSCF

Sonavex, a Baltimore-based medical device company spun out of Johns Hopkins University, simplifies hemodialysis patient care through a portfolio of novel ultrasound technologies that provide critical visual and quantitative data to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs.

Many hemodialysis patients rely on central venous catheters (CVCs)—long, flexible tubes, often inserted in the neck, that lead to a large vein connected to your heart. CVCs allow direct access to the bloodstream for patients requiring frequent treatments. Unfortunately, these catheters can lead to dangerous bloodstream infections, putting patients at high risk of becoming gravely ill and increasing mortality.

Arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs)—surgically created connections between arteries and veins—are a safer alternative to CVCs, but need to mature to an adequate size and flow rate prior to use. Currently, ultrasound is used to determine whether the AVF has matured, but these exams cannot be performed in the dialysis clinic. Instead, patients must travel to separate appointments to a vascular lab, where trained ultrasonographers can assess the AVF. Unfortunately, compliance with these visits is less than 33 percent, which leads to a delay in decision-making and extended reliance on CVCs.

Sonavex’s patented EchoMark & EchoSure System utilizes a bioresorbable implant and ultrasound device that work together to simplify the process of monitoring AVFs, so much so that all medical professionals, not only those specially trained to use ultrasound, can assess hemodialysis patients. By enabling care team members to monitor AVFs directly in a dialysis clinic, rather than requiring patients to go to special ultrasound technician offices, the company believes they will be able to improve patient outcomes and lower the costs of treatments.

Their bioresorbable implant, the EchoMark, is highly echogenic, making it easily visible on ultrasound. Placing the implant at an AVF site allows care team members to easily locate the vein via ultrasound and begin collecting data.

EchoSure is an artificial intelligence-enhanced ultrasound device that, working with the EchoMark through proprietary algorithms, provides users with the AVF flow rate, diameter, and depth, all necessary parameters in evaluating a fistula’s maturation.

By simplifying the collection of AVF data and making ultrasound more accessible, Sonavex hopes to limit the number of people using catheters, reducing infections and other complications. The company is currently running a clinical trial on their EchoMark device, and is working toward a new FDA clearance.

Funding:
Since inception, Sonavex has raised $34 million in equity and grant funding, including a $90,000 Maryland Industrial Partnerships grant in 2016. The company also participated in an I-Corps Short Course at George Washington University in the fall of 2014.

Programs:
MIPS, I-Corps