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The highly skilled physicians in Iraq who treat and save lives of American soldiers can only do so much. Particularly in head trauma cases, the extent of injury can not immediately be seen. From the time a person experiences severe head trauma, physicians and paramedics often have one so-called "golden hour" to define what type of surgical intervention is necessary to save the patient's life.
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The Infrascanner is a handheld device that quickly maps out the location of a brain injury and displays it graphically on a small screen. |
In the near future, thanks to the Infrascanner, traumatic brain injury may be diagnosed much faster—on the battlefield, at an accident scene or in the emergency room.
Developed and manufactured by Philadelphia-based InfraScan, the Infrascanner is a handheld device that medical professionals can use to detect brain injury—specifically, hematoma, a collection of blood in or around the brain. Brain-imaging pioneer Dr. Britton Chance, professor emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, developed the technology.
"The idea for the product came from a cooperation between Dr. Chance and a neurosurgeon at Baylor College of Medicine named Claudia Robertson," says Dr. Baruch Ben Dor, president and CEO of InfraScan. "He was the scientist who knew the technology, and she was the neurosurgeon who knew the application."
Quickly Mapping Out Brain Injuries
The Infrascanner is a handheld device that quickly maps out the location of a brain hematoma and displays it graphically on a small screen. Because it is so useful on the battlefield, InfraScan is working with the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Army to potentially include the Infrascanner in their procurement budgets for 2008. Recent statistics from U.S. military activity in Iraq show an estimated 30 percent of soldiers wounded or killed on the battlefield suffer from head injuries, 40 percent of whom develop brain hematomas.
Of course, the device has domestic application as well. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that more than two million people a year in the U.S. are treated for head injury. About 1,700,000 of them visit a hospital emergency room, and at least 500,000 are diagnosed with traumatic brain injury. An estimated 60,000 die as a result of these head traumas.
A Win-Win Combination
Dr. Ben Dor began working with Dr. Chance in 2002, learned the Infrascanner technology and wrote a business plan. "In 2003 I tried to do a road show and raise money for the company, but I failed miserably—it was a horrible time to try to raise money," he says. "One piece of feedback I got was that I needed a bigger team, so I teamed up with the School of Biomedical Engineering at Drexel University," he says. At Drexel, the Infrascanner was further developed and engineered.
Ben Franklin Technology Partners provided an initial investment of $500,000 in early 2006 and just closed an additional $250,000 investment. "The financial and business support from Ben Franklin have been very important, because at the early stage of a company, there's a limit to how many professionals you can hire," Dr. Ben Dor says. "Having good professional advice and guidance at the early stages is critical."
Dr. Ben Dor also sought the help of two Wharton Business School students—Sandeep Naik and Samonnoi Banerjee—to help him polish his business plan. "In return, they entered the plan into the Wharton Business Plan Competition, which made them eligible for the $20,000 prize," Dr. Ben Dor says. InfraScan's business plan won the 2004 Competition. "It was a win-win combination. They got $20,000, and I got an excellent business plan and credibility with investors that allowed me to form the company and raise money to start operations."
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