Keep pulling the thread on Reza Khorasaninejad.
In a 40-patient pilot study, LeadOptic's device successfully differentiated between healthy tissue and lesions in all cases.
Current lung cancer biopsy procedures have a 30% error rate, with one out of three patients having samples taken from the wrong location.
LeadOptic aims to increase the accuracy of lung cancer biopsies from the current rate of approximately 70% to over 90%.
LeadOptic received FDA clearance for its medical imaging device at the end of December.
The first of LeadOptic's three pilot sites has completed its program and converted into a paying customer.
LeadOptic is launching the RISE clinical study with Stanford Medicine to train its AI-based decision support models.
Reza Khorasaninejad raised the first $7 million in funding for LeadOptic through cold messaging on LinkedIn.
The technology of metasurfaces, which combines advanced optical design and nanofabrication, can miniaturize imaging systems by a factor of thousands.
Reza Khorasaninejad was the co-inventor of one of the first efficient metasurfaces, which was featured on the cover of Science magazine in 2016 during his last year at Harvard.
LeadOptic was approached by an NIH program manager at a Device Talks event and encouraged to apply for a grant for lung cancer research.
LeadOptic has a 99% probability of receiving an NIH grant for lung cancer research based on its application score.
LeadOptic has faced significant roadblocks from extensive paperwork requirements at large hospitals and medical centers.