From Idea to Profitability
BIOMEDICAL AND INDUSTRIAL SENSING
Projects
Optical Coherence Tomography based non-invasive glucose monitor: GlucoLight Corp.
​Analysis:
Over 34 million diabetics in the U.S.
Finger sticks + expensive test strips to check glucose
Interstitial fluid with a dermal probe – unreliable
Type 1 children awakened at night to check glucose
Solution & Process:
In the early 2000’s, UTMB discovered OCT glucose monitoring
GlucoLight was founded to bring this tech to market
GlucoLight received many patents:
Optical skin interface
Speckle reduction
Signal filtering and blood flow sensing
Data reduction and calibration
Technology was ready for FDA submission in 2009
Collapse of the worldwide economy shuttered the company in 2009
This company and project was a humanitarian effort with each of us employees feeling like we took a special part in helping those with this terrible disease, especially afflicted children.
Locating system for an autistic child and others: Danielle’s Buddy, Inc.
Danielle’s Buddy was conceived by Dr. Jeff Shakespeare, Dr. Larry Levit and others. Product uses GPS and local triangulation to locate a child or adult anywhere on the planet, indoors or out, is totally waterproof and maintains a charge for up to several months. It cannot be removed by the wearer and is intended to eliminate loss of life among people with autism.
Lithium niobate phase-modulated fiber optic acoustic pipeline leak detection system: ACAMP
Principle of operation:
Light pulse is created by laser/modulator
Pulse is split into two equal pulses
Piezo fiber stretching creates a variable phase delay such that one pulse is behind the other by the distance between the fiber Bragg gratings
The pulses are reflected from the 1st and 2nd FBG’s and combine creating an interferogram which is sent to the receiver and signal processor through the circulator
Problem:
Piezo stretchers are optically noisy and this creates acoustic noise reducing sensitivity of leak detection
Solution:
Replace piezo stretchers with Lithium Niobate solid state phase modulator
Mid-IR cooled antimonide laser package for an industrial gas sensing application: ACAMP
​Problem
Each molecule of industrial gas has a characteristic absorption spectrum
Mid-IR laser wavelengths are needed to sense various industrial pollutants
Optics must have a transmission window in mid-IR, special optics required
Thermal management is very challenging
Solution
A simple TO style package with a miniature thermoelectric cooler was successfully developed for this application