Ontogen Medtech, a Chicago-based medical device design and development services company, has been awarded a $258,793 Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institute of Health (NIH) to develop an innovative catheter device to improve the treatment of pulmonary embolism.
Ontogen Medtech is collaborating with Dr. Jonathan Paul and Dr. Osman Ahmed, founders of Flow Medical, to optimize the design and development of the device with the goal of improving overall patient outcomes and physician experience. Dr. Paul and Dr. Ahmed practice interventional medicine at the University of Chicago Medical Center.
“We are thrilled to be working hand-in-hand with two incredible physicians who are able to identify such a critical clinical need and collaborate effectively on product design concepts,” said Tyler Panian, Principal and Co-Founder of Ontogen Medtech. “This grant award validates that the NIH also sees an opportunity for pulmonary embolism treatment methods and techniques to be modernized and improved.”
Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a life-threatening medical condition wherein blood clots accumulate in the lungs. Pulmonary embolism represents a leading cause of morbidity in the United States, with as many as 900,000 cases per year in the U.S. alone. One in four patients with PE will die suddenly without warning, and PE is the third most common cause of cardiovascular death. In addition, blood clots represent a significant burden on the economy, with healthcare costs accounting for up to $10 billion dollars annually. Catheter-directed thrombolysis (CDT) is a means of treating the embolism by infusing medication directly into the pulmonary artery to break up the clots.
“Catheter-directed thrombolysis is an effective and life-saving means of treating pulmonary embolism, but it currently requires some guess work and with it come risks of bleeding complications. We are eager to work with the Ontogen team to eliminate this guess work and make the procedure safer for patients and more streamlined for physicians,” said Dr. Jonathan Paul.