An Indiana University researcher advancing wearable technology to improve the health and safety of young athletes was one of several faculty members to recently get a crash course in the world of startups and entrepreneurship. The program at the IU Launch Accelerator for Biosciences, or IU LAB, works with researchers one-on-one to translate early-stage discoveries into real-world applications.
Rita Patel, an associate professor in the Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences at the IU College of Arts and Sciences in Bloomington and an adjunct associate professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the IU School of Medicine, was part of the second cohort of the IU Health Incubator at IU LAB Pre‑Accelerator powered by gener8tor.
"IU has a research enterprise approaching $1.1 billion, and the state's life sciences economy generates more than $102 billion annually," said David Rosenberg, president and CEO of IU LAB. "We want to make sure that the translational aspect of IU research is a strong component of that overall ecosystem, and spinning up more innovation and entrepreneurship is the foundation."
An expert on voice and upper airway disorders, Patel is the founder of Aerly Diagnostics, which aims to create a consumer-grade wearable device for the real-time detection of exercise-induced laryngeal obstruction, a difficult-to-diagnose breathing disorder that affects an estimated 1 out of 4 adolescent athletes.
From research to prototype
The startup is based on Patel's research on the disorder, which was recently awarded $3.7 million from the National Institutes of Health. Among other goals, the grant supports work on a prototype sensor in collaboration with Purdue biomedical engineer Chi Hwan Lee and students through a partnership supported by the IU School of Medicine.
A diagnosis of exercise-induced laryngeal obstruction currently requires bulky equipment and direct observation of the vocal cords in a medical exam room. Photo by Chris Meyer, Indiana University
The interest the device received at academic conferences also motivated her to explore entrepreneurial options, Patel said.
"People always ask, 'How can I get this? How can I use this for my patients?'" she said. "But if you're only doing it in the lab, you can't scale it to everyone who might need it. A company helps us reach the market. It opens up a much wider door for access than we can do on our own in the lab."
A difficult diagnosis
Exercise-induced laryngeal obstruction causes young people to struggle to breathe, or even pass out, during physical exertion. Currently, it can only be diagnosed through a clinic visit, where patients run on a treadmill or ride a stationary bicycle while their vocal cords are observed with a flexible endoscope that goes through the nostril into the throat. Even then, doctors are rarely able to reproduce breathing issues in the lab.
Patel said that exercise-induced laryngeal obstruction is most often misdiagnosed as exercise-induced asthma. Young people are then put on unnecessary medications that do not help their condition, and they may also rack up more medical costs as they pursue more tests.
On average, Patel said, it can take up to five years to properly diagnose the disorder - often the majority of a young person's middle and high school athletics career, if they do not drop out of sports entirely.
"It's very scary, not being able to breathe," Patel said. "Young people continue to have symptoms; medications aren't working. They have repeated ER visits and still don't have an answer.
"It really impacts quality of life. They can't be a part of the team; they end up sitting on the sidelines."
On the other hand, she said, a timely diagnosis can be life-changing because exercise-induced laryngeal obstruction is often successfully treated with simple breathing techniques that retrain the vocal cords.
Already, Patel's lab has validated a prototype wearable diagnostic device through multiple performance benchmarks, including demonstrating 100% accuracy in detecting vocal fold obstruction compared to standard clinical diagnosis methods in her lab. The device is also confirmed to be sweat resistant, to not overheat and to maintain strong battery life.
Connecting with resources
The IU LAB Pre-Accelerator is powered by gener8tor's seven-week, no-equity-required gBeta program, which connects early-stage companies - sometimes just in the product or prototype stage - with mentors, industry experts and investors. Gener8tor is a Wisconsin-based accelerator program that came to Indianapolis in 2018 with support from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation.
In addition to the intensive seven-week immersion experience with structured sessions on topics like startups and funding, Patel said the gBeta program introduced her to Indiana-based organizations that could support her business. This included another startup, also based in the 16 Tech building, with the design and manufacturing expertise that could potentially move her prototype close to consumer-grade product.
"We tailor our program to each participant, surrounding them with different people with different perspectives depending on their needs," said Camilo Lozano, a program manager for the gBeta program at generat8or, who describes the program as "building ecosystems around founders and removing roadblocks as they work to bring their technology to market."
"Dr. Patel was building in a backroom," he added. "Once she started meeting people and explaining her work outside the lab, it really started to take off."
Other IU faculty to participate in the second genera8tor cohort were Jason Meyer of IU School of Medicine, for ConnexStem, which produces stem-cell-based retinal models to evaluate neurological drug safety and efficiency; Kan Shao of the IU School of Public Health-Bloomington, for DreamTech, which creates predictive modeling software for drug dose safety testing; and Deron Herr of the IU School of Medicine, for Bahto Biosciences, which is developing a non-opioid small-molecule therapeutic for the treatment of peripheral neuropathy.
The application deadline for the next genera8tor cohort is June 14.
