Market Overview:
Chronic kidney disease (CKD), a condition in which a patient’s kidneys fail to effectively filter blood, is estimated to affect more than one-in-seven Americans placing a significant burden on the US healthcare system costing Medicare over $120 billion in 2017. Commonly called the "silent disease," CKD presents with no symptoms in its early stages; therefore, most patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage leading to poor prognosis. Hemodialysis or kidney transplantation are the treatment options for the most advanced stage of kidney disease known as end-stage renal disease (ESRD). However, due to hemodialysis's deleterious effects on cardiac health,and a lack of available kidneys for transplant, ESRD mortality rates remain high. The ability to frequently monitor kidney function, especially in the later stages of CKD, is the key to providing improved management of this chronic condition.
Clemson University researchers have created an at-home diagnostic platform for chronic kidney disease patients that provides an accurate and immediate measurement of the ammonia concentration in exhaled breath without any electronic components.
Application Stage of Development
Clinical Diagnostics, Chronic Kidney Utility Application
Disease Monitoring, At-home Testing
Advantages
- Non-invasive, real-time sample collection, and immediate results
- Simple control of breath flow rate and volume providing accurate measurement of breath ammonia concentration in physiological range
- Reduced analytical complexity & cost
- At-home/Point-of-care portability & operation
Technical Summary
These compounds are diazocyclobutenes, synthesized via a novel and simple method, and could potentially be active against many different diseases. The compounds are currently demonstrated to be efficacious against Trypanosoma brucei, and have a superior safety profile to some of the currently available drugs. They are active in the nano- to micro-molar range, which is crucial for the development of a pharmaceutical, and although the structure-function relationship is not well understood, they are non-toxic to mammalian cells, a drastic improvement over the arsenic-derived compounds currently used to treat the disease.
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Inventor: Robert Latour, George Chumanov
Patent Type: Utility Application
Serial Number: 17/517,919
CURF Ref No: 2021-033