NIMBLE Diagnostics

Stents are one of the most implanted devices in the world, and are used to restore the correct flow of blood or other fluids. They are especially useful to prevent heart attacks or to treat its lasting symptoms, but once implanted can become blocked or damaged, which occur in almost a third of the cases. This progression occurs gradually, but symptoms appear only after the stent is already 90% occluded, which is too late to prevent worsening conditions. Then, in most cases, clinicians need to perform an invasive procedure called angiography, which consists in inserting a catheter into the artery to directly inspect the stent. Obviously, this is a very complex and invasive procedure, where the patient needs anesthesia, lots of X-ray exposure and a 24h hospitalization recovery. Moreover, this is very expensive, as you need highly trained staff, bedding care and expensive reagents. All of this leads to a situation where clinicians cannot act upon the problem until it has already manifested, which increases the incidence of serious complications, including strokes, heart attacks or sudden death, which could be otherwise preventable. In order to change this situation, we are developing a microwave-based technology that can read the electromagnetic signature of the stent non-invasively. Our main objective is to be able to measure and monitor any issue with in-stent restenosis, thrombosis or stent fractures. All of these characteristics translate into a product, the NIMBLE system, which will enable early treatments to prevent negative outcomes. Medication compliance c ouldbe identified and managed, symptoms could be correlated with stent function, and triggers of cardiac events could be found before it is too late. We are developing micro-wave based technologies to monitor the functional integrity of stents.