ANTgineers

Welcome! We are a student team working with startup NXGenPort Inc. to integrate sensors into catheter ports.

Issues with Current Port Catheters

Between treatments, cancer patients are largely unmonitored

Port catheters in the market are delivery devices used to administer drugs and for blood draws. No ports on the market combine novel methods of detecting neutropenia and other physiological parameters such as heart function.

50% of cancer patients treated with chemotherapy suffer from low white blood cell counts that could lead to infection

Cancer is a leading cause of deaths in the United States. In 2021, nearly two million people suffered from cancer and 600,000 of those patients died. Current methods of treating cancer include chemotherapy which targets and eliminates fast-growing cancerous cells. In the process, healthy cells can get damaged leading to neutropenia. Signs of neutropenia can delay treatments. Research shows that a 4-week delay in treatment creates a higher risk of death.

50% of cancer patients treated with chemotherapy suffer from low white blood cell counts that could lead to infection

This design encompasses an optical system, bluetooth transmission, and data processing modules. Antigneer’s main contribution is validating the optical system proof of concept and the initial process of miniaturization of such systems. The Antgineers showed the proof of concept by building a blood flow simulation utilizing a peristaltic pump, a 20x objective lens, Raspberry Pi microcontroller, and optical fiber with a light source. Once a viable image was consistently recorded, an optical setup was constructed on a smaller scale.

Marketing Strategy

NXGenPort Inc will market the Smart Port device to port manufacturing companies. There is a total addressable market of approximately 14 million patients and a fiscal revenue of $14 billion dollars. However, as chemotherapy is not applicable for all patients, the serviceable addressable market is 1.7 million people with revenue is $1.7 billion dollars. From this population, the goal is to address 25% of the market with $425 million annual recurring revenue with a selling price of $1000 per unit including software for remote patient monitoring.

Competitive Analysis

Traditional port catheter manufacturers such as Bard Access Systems and Smiths Medical focus on surgical placement and ability to administer drugs safely. Other competitors, like Leuko, have devices that noninvasively monitor white blood cells. However, their current technology does not address several desirable physiological parameters nor provide continuous monitoring. Oncodisc, another competitor, is currently working on an implanted port that captures on-demand communication, vital measurements, and drug delivery applications. However, the novel features of NXgenPort are in vivo blood cell count monitoring and heart function.

Kevin Yang

Team Lead and Business Advisor

B.S. in Biomedical Engineering - June 2022
Specialization in Micro and Nano Biomedical Engineering
Supervising entire operation and managed financial operations

Harshin Pathak

Research and Development Engineer

B.S. in Biomedical Engineering - June 2022
Minor in Material Science and Engineering
Developing and testing macro-scale prototype

Nery Arevalos

Quality Engineer and Team’s Representative

B.S. in Biomedical Engineering - June 2022
Minor in Material Science and Engineering
Specialization in Micro and Nano Biomedical Engineering
Documenting team’s progress and our product’s performance

Eric Lopez

Materials Selection and Design Analyst

B.S. in Material Science and Engineering - June 2022
Developing miniaturization of macro-scale prototype

Amod Bhole

Software and Electrical Designer

B.S. in Biomedical Engineering - June 2022
Specialization in Biophotonics
Minor in Bioinformatics
Developing software to capture and process data