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Device for Non-Invasive Monitoring of Esophageal Disease, Inflammation in Development
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EnteroTrack and the University of Colorado have partnered to develop a novel capsule device that will enable simple, low-cost monitoring of esophageal disease and inflammation, according to a company press release.
“This partnership represents the best aspect of academic medicine,” Glenn T. Furuta, MD, professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and pediatric gastroenterologist at Children’s Hospital Colorado, said in the release. “We have been able to successfully collaborate in a multi-disciplinary fashion to develop and execute a plan that will ultimately improve the lives of children and adults with gastrointestinal diseases.”
The partnership entails an exclusive license agreement that will enable EntroTrack to develop and market the device which, in addition to monitoring inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, can be used to monitor treatment effectiveness and may be used to help diagnose esophageal diseases in the future, the release said.
The technology was developed by Furuta in collaboration with Steven Ackerman, PhD, professor of biochemistry at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. They then approached Robin Shandas, PhD, professor and chair of bioengineering at University of Colorado Denver, College of Engineering and Applied Science, about making the device commercially available, at which time Children’s Hospital Colorado funded the company and its research.
“Given the increasing pressures to contain costs, there is clear rationale for innovative, cost-effective methods to monitor esophageal diseases,” Shandas, now acting CEO of EnteroTrack, said in the release. “This technology holds particular promise because it can reduce total patient care costs while keeping good margins. We hope to obtain FDA approval for the device in 2015.”