GRADUATE OF BF TECHCELERATOR, ATOPTIX LLC, SELECTED AS FINALIST IN $2.25 MILLION NOKIA SENSING XCHALLENGE
State College, Pa. (October 22, 2014)–Atoptix LLC has been selected as a finalist in the $2.25M Nokia Sensing XCHALLENGE, a global competition to develop breakthrough medical sensing technologies that will ultimately enable faster diagnoses and easier personal health monitoring.
Atoptix’s smartphone-based optical spectroscopic sensor enables tracking and monitoring of health conditions, effectively bringing “the lab to the patient.” This innovative, non-invasive technology is being developed to accurately detect blood hemoglobin and oxygen levels under the skin, both of which are critical for wellness monitoring and the early detection of diseases, including anemia, cancer and other ailments.
The Atoptix health sensor can provide rapid results to the patient or doctor using cloud-based analytical software, without the use of a needle or a finger pierce. The patent-pending technology offers a high-performance, low-cost design in a compact package, which can improve access to health care services in low-resource clinics or remote locations.
The Atoptix team, comprised of the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Perry Edwards, Ph.D., and Chief Technical Officer, Zhiwen Liu, Ph.D., is one of 11 finalists competing for a share of a $2.25M purse. Their technology was originally developed in Dr. Liu’s laboratory at Pennsylvania State University, and the company was founded to rapidly bring the smartphone health sensor to market.
“Atoptix was formed to turn the exciting sensor technology developed by researchers at Penn State into solutions that can have a meaningful and marketable impact outside of the laboratory,” said Dr. Edwards. “As such, we are honored to be named a finalist in such a prestigious competition.”
The final phase of the Nokia Sensing XCHALLENGE includes an online voting campaign accounting for 10% of a team’s overall score, with the remainder evaluated by a judging panel comprised of digital health and medical industry experts. Videos of the finalist teams and their breakthrough technologies can be viewed and voted on beginning October 21, 2014 through October 30, 2014 at: http://www.nokiasensingxchallengevoting.org.
For more information on Atoptix, visit www.atoptix.com.
For more information about the Nokia Sensing XCHALLENGE, visit http://sensing.xprize.org.
About XPRIZE
Founded in 1995, XPRIZE is the leading organization solving the world’s Grand Challenges by creating and managing large-scale, high-profile, incentivized prizes in five areas: Learning; Exploration; Energy & Environment; Global Development; and Life Sciences. Active prizes include the $30M Google Lunar XPRIZE, the $15M Global Learning XPRIZE, the $10M Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE, the $2.25M Nokia Sensing XCHALLENGE and the $2M Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health XPRIZE. For more information, visit www.xprize.org.
