Devices & Diagnostics, Diagnostics, Pharma, Startups

One test to screen them all: Entopsis using AI to build low-cost diagnostic for multiple diseases

With the majority of diagnostics out there, you need to know what you’re testing for: A […]

With the majority of diagnostics out there, you need to know what you’re testing for: A strep throat screener won’t tell you that you have breast cancer. However, that’s how many asymptomatic, but dangerous, diseases fly under the radar – even when a seemingly healthy patient’s getting routine care.

Miami startup Entopsis is building a diagnostic that could screen for multiple diseases from one sample. The grand plan is to make a low-cost, at-home test that can screen for a range of diseases before they’re symptomatic.

“And that’s our goal,” CEO Obdulio Piloto said. “To allow people to test themselves as often as they want, and if they find out they have a disease, they can treat it before symptoms appear.”

The startup’s raised about $800,000 in a seed round, Piloto said. It’s gotten some of its support from Breakout Labs, the Peter Thiel-backed org that helps accelerate promising tech-driven life sciences companies. It’s led by Piloto and cofounder Ian Cheong, who met as graduate students at Johns Hopkins University. They launched Entopsis in 2012 and are happy with their funding at present – they’ve actually turned investors away at this point – but are looking for a Series A next year or the following.

Entopsis’ platform, called Nutec, begins by profiling the body’s molecular responses to cancers, pathogens and abnormal immune reactions. It uses machine learning to associate molecular signatures with these diseases.

“Instead of looking for molecules that result from having a tumor, why not look at molecules of your body reacting to the tumor?” Piloto said. “It’s the exact same process whether it’s a cancer we’re talking about, an infection or something autoimmune.”

The Nutec consists of millions of tiny nanopockets, designed to capture a wide variety of molecules – then churn out data on what they might be. The user then captures this information on a photograph, which is sent to the cloud for analysis.

Here’s a rundown, taken from the Entopsis site, on the Nutec process:

Users take their own urine, saliva, breath or blood sample, then place it on the Nutec device and incubate and process. Then, they can scan the device on a standard document scanner (if this diagnostic’s approved, they really need to make it iPhone compatible) and upload the info on the cloud. That picture’s going to be high-res enough, Piloto said, to quickly churn out a diagnosis.

Of course, this is a ways away. Entopsis is currently working to develop partnerships with a number of Miami-area hospitals to gain access to urine and blood samples, so as to build up a wide catalogue that profiles how the body reacts to a range of disease.

Image courtesy of Flickr user Domenico.

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