If you've ever left a doctor's office with an order for lab tests, you’re likely familiar with the inconvenient and stressful experience of waiting days for results that may or may not provide a definitive diagnosis.
Fortunately, thanks to a recent $1.6 million series B seed funding effort led by
Trimaran Capital Partners,
Science Center-based nanotech startup
Graphene Frontiers is poised to put an end to many such experiences by "creating a major paradigm change in medical diagnostics," says CEO Mike Patterson.
That paradigm change will come from unique biosensor devices that can actually identify antibodies, proteins and other markers of infection and disease.
Graphene has already developed a proprietary and highly efficient process to produce the graphene used in the sensors. The upcoming product will allow testing from a single drop of blood that can be drawn and processed right at your doctor’s office, providing near-immediate results.
Patterson explains that the company is also working on using its biosensors as a preventative tool -- doctors will be able to monitor changes to a patient’s specific health markers over time.
While Graphene's early business model relied primarily on providing its namesake material to other researchers, recent seed funding will allow Graphene to "refocus and expand their efforts into more industry changing applications with the [ultra-thin graphene] material," says Patterson.
In addition to job growth and a lab expansion at the Science Center campus, the company plans to pursue opportunities in the consumer electronics industry through a new partnership with the
Colleges of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) at
SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Albany.
Writer: Dan Eldridge
Source: Mike Patterson, Graphene Frontiers