A Medical Device Daily

TechniScan Medical Systems (TMS; Salt Lake City) reported the continuation of its $2.8 million Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding from the National Cancer Institute (NCI)/National Institutes of Health (NIH). Phase II monies for the 12 months beginning April 2007 through March 2008 have been awarded in the amount of $1.66 million.

TMS will also receive about $1 million in Phase III in 2008, which will bring the total grant to $2.8 million.

Phase I goals, including the design of technical improvements to TechniScan's prototype UltraSound CT Imaging System, were completed earlier this year. Phase II, which began in April, involves production of two systems modeled on the improved USCT Imaging prototype. These machines will be used in Phase III for investigational testing of patients at the University of California San Diego and at the Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minnesota).

"Phase III funds will pay for a significant portion of the pre-clinical work at these facilities that we anticipate beginning in early 2008," said TMS CEO David Robinson. The clinical testing will allow TMS to collect data on subjects with both normal breast anatomy, as well as on patients with clinical findings, and utilize the information to support regulatory efforts by TMS.

Techniscan develops ultrasound technology for breast imaging.

In other grant news:

• The Department of Defense awarded a $1.6 million grant to The Center for Bioelectronics Biosensors and Biochips at Clemson University (both, Clemson, South Carolina). The award is for a joint study on an implantable biochip that could transmit medical datas with the department of molecular pathology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Telesensors, (Knoxville, Tennessee).

The biochip, which would be about the size of a grain of rice, would be able to almost immediately relay patient information, such as glucose levels in the event of a major hemorrhage. It could be injected into a wounded patient after an incident or for other long-term applications, such as monitoring astronauts' vital signs during long-duration space flights and reading blood-sugar levels for diabetics.

Clemson researchers have developed gel that mimics human tissue and is used when injecting the chip to reduce the chance of a patient's body rejecting it. The biochip is five years away from human trials, researchers say.

• Nanomix (Emeryville, California), a nanoelectronic detection company commercializing high-value diagnostic and monitoring applications, reported an increase in the previous award of a $1 million project grant from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The grant amendment adds $260,000 to the second year of the grant, for a total of $1.26 million.

The Nanomix grant covers a three-year period and will be developed in cooperation with the Naval Research Laboratories (Washington). For security reasons the scope of the project will not be disclosed.

The Nanomix Sensation platform enables detection of a broad array of chemical and biomolecules. It has high specificity and reproducibility, operates at room temperature, consumes little power, and permits both wireless integration and simple deployment.

In contracts news:

• Environmental Tectonic Corporation's (ETC; South Hampton, Pennsylvania) BioMedical Division reported it has been awarded a contract by a hospital in Michigan for two BARA-MED XD Monoplace Hyperbaric Chambers. In obtaining this contract, ETC worked closely with the hospital to help ensure that the hyperbaric chamber installation met requirements for operational efficiency, patient comfort and the latest safety standards for healthcare facilities.

ETC develops aircrew training systems, public entertainment systems, process simulation systems (sterilization and environmental), clinical hyperbaric systems, environmental testing and simulation systems, and related products for domestic and international customers.

• MedGuard Health Services (Chattanooga, Tennessee) reported that it has secured its first county jail healthcare contract. The three-way contract between MedGuard Health Services, its franchisee Judicial Health Services, and Transylvania County, North Carolina, marks the first ever deal of its type and comes as a response to county sheriffs' and officials' desire to combine all of the benefits of outsourced correctional health care while working with local providers.

MedGuard's franchisee Judicial Health Services will supply one year of on-site medical care including sick calls; 14-day assessments; prescription ordering; referrals for mental, dental and other specialty practice areas; and coordination and negotiation of billing with the local hospital.

MedGuard Health Services provides outsourced correctional healthcare that empowers providers to be entrepreneurs, allowing jails to work with a local supplier who is backed by an industry expert.