A replacement for the good old stethoscope?
According to BusinessWeek, an Israeli startup, aptly named Deep Breeze, has developed a high-tech replacement for the 200-year-old stethoscope. This noninvasive device can draw in seconds an image of your lungs by listening to its vibrations. The Vibration Response Imaging (VRI) system could already be used in Israel, in Europe and in South Korea. Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved its introduction in the U.S. But don't expect to see one of these systems used by your local physician anytime soon. This VRI system will carry a price tag of over $40K.
This system has been developed by Deep Breeze, a company located in Or-Akiva, Israel, with a U.S. office situated in Redmond, WA. On the left, you can see its VRI XP device, which is basically a PC workstation using proprietary software and sensor units. It has a height of 119 cm, a width of 43 cm and a depth of 58 cm for a weight of 50 kg (Credit: Deep Breeze, VRI System Components).
Now, let's discover how this device works according to BusinessWeek. The system, "which uses no radiation, works by analyzing acoustic vibrations given off by the lungs. As a patient breathes normally for several seconds, sensors placed on the back -- in effect, electronic stethoscopes -- pick up these lung vibrations and feed them to a computer, where they're processed and turned into vivid images. Conditions such as asthma, emphysema, and pneumonia each produce distinct and definable images."
The article also quotes Igal Kushnir, President and CEO of the company. "'In a matter of mere seconds, a doctor using the technology can ascertain an enormous amount of information about the lung that would ordinarily take hours and require the use of several devices,' says Kushnir." According to him, this also would reduce demand for X-rays exams.
You can see on the left a patient using this system. He just has to breathe normally for about 30 seconds before the results appear on the monitor -- and can be sent to another physician or a lab. (Credit: Deep Breeze) You can see how the exam is done in real time by watching a short video available on this page.
I have to say that I'm impressed by the amount of images that the company put on its website. For example, it offers a full gallery of images from clinical studies, both static and dynamic. This collection covers various lung pathologies, from emphysema to pneumonia and from asthma to lung tumor.
But let's return to the FDA approval of Deep Breeze's pulmonary imaging device (Gali Weinreb, Globes [online], Israel, July 24, 2007). It has obvious economical consequences for the company, as notes BusinessWeek. "The company plans to launch U.S. sales by the end of 2007. At first, use of the Deep Breeze system -- with an average price tag of $40,000 to $50,000 -- likely will be limited to pulmonary clinics and intensive care units. Even so, the company could log hundreds of millions of dollars in annual sales in the U.S. market alone."
Please note that the company has other plans and wants to expand its potential market. First, it is working on cheaper versions of the VRI device -- which would still cost about $10K; Then, it wants to use its VRI technology to build a device that would analyze our hearts.
Sources: Neal Sandler, BusinessWeek Online, August 7, 2007; and various websites
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