Team: PhotoniCare | Origin: Illinois | Participation: NSF I-Corps Participant, 2014
Overprescription of antibiotics is a big problem that affects population health in massive ways. PhotoniCare seeks to eliminate antibiotic resistance through its ear diagnosis device. The company’s technology uses near-infrared light to see through the eardrum and visualize the middle ear directly, including the presence of any fluid and the turbidity of that fluid. This enables an objective assessment of middle ear health to aid in accurate diagnosis.
PhotoniCare’s technology is used in much the same way as a traditional otoscope and provides the surface images that medical providers are used to seeing, but the PhotoniCare technology also provides a view through the eardrum to assess the middle ear directly. Information from the device is critical to providing treatment of ear infections. The company’s technology has been shown to have 90% accuracy and introduces a new revenue stream to clinicians and practices that adopt it.