Blueprint MedTech Awardees
NIH’s Blueprint MedTech program has issued eight Optimizer project awards from its first competition cycle. The first round of these awards totals $11M. These projects will be administered by the two Blueprint MedTech Incubator Hubs—Cimit’s Center for Innovative NeuroTech Advancement (CINTA) and NeuroTech Harbor (NTH).
Blueprint MedTech has also extended Seedling awards to 17 innovators whose applications demonstrated exceptional merit. Each Seedling awardee receives six months of dedicated support, including a $25,000 stipend, $25,000 to engage subject matter experts, and access to $50,000 in in-kind resources such as mentoring, regulatory consulting, and commercialization training—all focused on addressing key milestones on the path to market.
In addition, Blueprint MedTech supports Translator project awards funded through UG3/UH3 and U44 cooperative agreement mechanisms following NIH peer review. The first four Translator awards are listed below.
Blueprint MedTech Cycle 1 Optimizer awardees:
For additional details on the Optimizer awards, please see this NIBIB Science Highlight.
| Awardee Institution | Optimizer Project Title | Funding NIH Institute(s) |
| University of California, Los Angeles; University of California, San Diego; and Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore | MonOs | NIDA |
| NeuraStasis, Inc., Houston* | Development/Testing of BlueStem Dual Nerve Stimulation Device for Ischemic Stroke | NINDS |
| University of Arizona, Tucson* | External focused ultrasound modulation of the dorsal root ganglia | NIDA and NINDS |
| Endovascular Horizons and University of California San Francisco | Embodrain technology for chronic subdural hematomas | NINDS |
| Boston University and Harvard University, Boston* | reNeu propulsion rehabilitation platform for gait restoration after neurological disease | NICHD/National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research (NCMRR), and NINDS |
| Northern Arizona University and Biomotum, Inc., Flagstaff | A wearable rehabilitation robot for children to use at home | NINDS |
| Openwater, Inc., San Francisco | Wearable noninvasive, transcranial focused ultrasound neuromodulation with near-infrared optical neuromonitoring | BRAIN Initiative |
| SecondWave Systems, Inc., Minneapolis | Treatment of Facial Pain using an Injectable Ultrasonically Powered Neurostimulator | NIDCR |
| Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus | At-home, closed-loop vagus nerve stimulation system to restore hand function in individuals with stroke | NINDS |
*participant in the 2022 Blueprint MedTech pilot
Blueprint MedTech Cycle 2 Optimizer awardees: NIH’s Blueprint MedTech program has announced its Cycle 2 Optimizer project awards. These projects will be supported by the program’s two Incubator Hubs: CIMIT’s Center for Innovative NeuroTech Advancement (CINTA) and NeuroTech Harbor (NTH).
For additional details on the Cycle 2 Optimizer awards, please see this NIBIB Science Highlight.
| Awardee Institution | Optimizer Project Title | Funding NIH Institute(s) |
| Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore | Continuous intrapartum fetal brain monitoring using a wearable ultrasound/photoacoustic device | NINDS |
| Blackrock Neurotech, Salt Lake City | Subcutaneous Intersectional Electrical Stimulation (SIES) for Seizure | NINDS |
| Aneuvas Technologies, Flagstaff, AZ | Balloon-Stent Device for Minimally-Invasive Temporary Aneurysm Occlusion and Embolization | NINDS |
| University of Pittsburgh, PA | VentriculoAmniotic Shunting for Fetal Aqueductal Stenosis | NINDS |
| Stanford University, CA | A single-cell and cell-type resolution artificial retina for vision restoration | NEI |
| Washington University in St. Louis, MO | Modular Non-Invasive Brain-Computer Interface System for Treating Chronic Neuropathic Pain | HEAL Initiative |
Blueprint MedTech Cycle 1 Seedling awardees (see descriptions from the Neurotech Harbor web page):
| Awardee Institution | Seedling Project Title | Funding NIH Institute(s) |
| UCSF, San Francisco | An Implantable Closed-Loop Neuromodulation Device for Neuropsychiatric Disorders | BRAIN Initiative |
| Lundquist Institute, Los Angeles | Endovascular Electrode Device for Transvenous Electroencephalography | BRAIN Initiative |
| Johns Hopkins University, Maryland | Photoacoustic Retinal Prosthesis | NEI |
| Asayena, Inc., La Jolla | Neuromodulation Device for Restoration of Motor Function | NICHD/NCMRR |
| MIT, Cambridge | Magnetomicrometry | NICHD/NCMRR, NINDS |
| Motif Neurotech, Inc., Houston | Minimally Invasive Implants for Treatment-Resistant Depression | BRAIN Initiative |
| UNandUP, LLC, St.Louis | Magneto-Thrombolysis to Improve Acute Ischemic Stroke Care | NINDS |
| JUAD Neurotech, Irvine | Minimally Invasive Device for Epilepsy Surgery | NINDS, BRAIN Initiative |
| Longeviti Neuro Solutions, Baltimore | Monitoring GBM Through Implantable Ultrasound Transducer | NINDS |
| Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore | A Non-Invasive Imaging Device to Modernize Treatment of Peripheral Nerve Injuries | NINDS |
| FemiStim, Gainesville Florida | FemiStim, the Sexual Health Neurostimulator for Victims of Female Genital Mutilation | NINDS |
| Arizona State University, Phoenix | Wireless, Injectable Neurostimulators (WINS) for Treating Chronic Migraine (CM) | NINDS |
| University of Utah, Salt Lake City | Drug Delivering Nervewrap for Peripheral Nerve Regeneration | NINDS |
| Neuroview Technology, Inc., Englewood, New Jersey | Subgaleal Hyper-chronic EEG Monitoring Platform | NINDS |
| Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore | Development of a Smart Cerebrospinal Fluid Management Implant in Patients with Spinal Cord Injury | NINDS |
| Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore | Implantable Ultrasound Transducer for Remote Spinal Cord Injury Monitoring | NINDS |
| MacHouse Designs, LLC, Loveland, Colorado | In vivo Visualization of Peripheral Nerves Using Novel CT Contrast Agents | NIDCR |
Blueprint MedTech Cycle 2 Seedling awardees (see descriptions from the Neurotech Harbor web page):
| Awardee Institution | Seedling Project Title | Funding NIH Institute(s) |
| Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA | Point-of-care Transcranial Focused Ultrasound Neuromodulator for Treating Chronic Pain | NIDA |
| Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH | ForeVR: Biofeedback-Based Virtual Reality to Treat Pain in Children and Adolescents | NIDA |
| AutonomUS Medical Technologies, Inc., Boston, MA | Reducing Opioid Use after Total Knee Replacement through Semi-automated AI-Enabled Ultrasound-Guided Robotic Adductor Canal Nerve Block | NIDA |
| FavFacture LLC, Baltimore, MD | Disruptive Multi-site TMS Tools For improving Impaired Brain Connectivity | NIDA |
| Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ | Prevention of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy with wearable, closed-loop, transcutaneous, diaphragmatic pacemakers | NINDS |
| NeuroNexus Technologies, Inc., Ann Arbor, MI | Novel IV-Like Subgaleal Electrode Device for EEG-Based Brain Monitoring in Critical Illness | NINDS |
| CoolSpine LLC, Woodbury, CT | Intrathecal Cooling Catheter to Provide Neuroprotection to Avoid Paraplegia resulting from Open and Endovascular Thoracic Aneurysm Repair | NINDS |
| FavFacture LLC/ Duke University, Durham, NC | Localization of the Epileptogenic Zone to Improve Outcomes of Epilepsy Surgery | NINDS |
| Thermeutics, LLC, Dallas, TX | Novel neural cooling implant to halt glioblastoma | NINDS |
| Columbia University/ CranioSense, New York, NY | Development and clinical evaluation of a novel non-invasive intracranial pressure assessment and monitoring device | NINDS |
| vizma.ai, Raleigh, NC | PolarEasePro prepares injectable MRI contrasts for molecular imaging | NINDS |
| UpStim LLC, Rochester, MN | UpStim: Cortically-controlled VR-guided Robotic Rehabilitation Enhanced with Spinal Cord Stimulation | NINDS |
| Emboa Medical Inc, West Lafayette, IN | Thrombus Retriever Aspiration Platform (TRAP) for medium vessel occlusion thrombectomy | NINDS |
| Pioneer Neurotech, Inc, Louisville, KY | Long-gap nerve-repair device | NINDS |
| Haystack Diagnostics, Brookline, MA | Gemini Electrodiagnostic System (Gemini EDx) | NINDS |
| Brain Temp Inc, Bryn Mawr, PA | BrainTemp BTneo Brain Temperature Monitoring System | NINDS |
| University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI | PAIM (Personalized Automated Intelligent Management) – Effectively Addressing Chronic Pain Assessment | NINDS |
| Teliatry Inc, Richardson, TX | Implantable NIRS Sensor: Optical monitoring of Spinal cord injury (SCI) | NINDS |
| The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX | A wearable soft fabric sensing device for detecting and monitoring dysphagia in Parkinson’s disease | NICHD/NCMRR |
| Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA | Local delivery of high concentrations of minocycline from a biomaterial-based drug delivery system to promote neuroprotection & functional recovery after spinal cord injury | NINDS |
| University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA | Innovative Sight Recovery: Non-Invasive Ultrasound Retinal Stimulation | NEI |
| UCSF, San Francisco, CA | An Automated Process for Optimizing and Predicting Spinal Cord Stimulation for Chronic Pain | HEAL Initiative |
Blueprint MedTech Cycle 3 Seedling awardees:
| Awardee Institution | Optimizer Project Title | Funding NIH Institute(s) |
BPMT Translator Awards:
The Blueprint MedTech program also has Translator Cooperative Agreement awards, Blueprint MedTech Translator (UG3/UH3 – Clinical Trial Optional), PAR-21-315 and Blueprint MedTech: Small Business Translator (U44 – Clinical Trial Optional), PAR-21-282. The following awards have been made in these programs to date:
- U44 DA059380-01 John Konsin, PI, Prapela, Inc.
- Prapela® SVS incubator pad: A cost-effective stochastic vibrotactile device to improve the clinical course of infants with apnea of prematurity
- U44 NS136026-01A1 (BRAIN NOSI) Haidong Peng, PI, Neuro42, Inc.
- Portable Intraoperative MRI for Neurosurgery
- UG3 NS130338-01A1 Richard Webb, PI, Rhaeos, Inc.
- Development of wireless, wearable flow sensors for continuous, long-term tracking of cerebrospinal fluid dynamics in patients with hydrocephalus
- UG3 NS135551-01 (HEAL NOSI) Charles Caskey, PI, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
- Translating an MR-guided focused ultrasound system for first-in-human precision neuromodulation of pain circuits
- U44 DA060264-01 Xiaofeng Xia, PI, Instanosis, Inc.
- Addressing Emerging Drug Threats with InstaStrip Rapid Tests
- U44 DA059627-01 Patrik Schmidle, PI, Cari Health, Inc.
- Methadone Dosing System (MDS)
- U44 DA061027-01 Ashkan Vaziri, PI, Biosensics, LLC.
- ODAlert: Wearable Device for Automatic Detection of Opioid-Induced Respiratory Arrest
- UG3 NS140971 Thomas Abell, Uni of Louisville
- Gastric Electrical Stimulation for Pain in Gastroparesis
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UG3 NS137282 Lee Fisher, Uni of Pittsburgh
- A fully-implanted spinal cord stimulation system to restore sensation and relieve phantom limb pain after lower-limb amputation
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UG3 NS137364 Brett Youngerman, Columbia Uni Health Sciences
- NeuroFlex: Wireless, Mechanically Flexible, Stimulation-Capable Depth and Surface High-Density Microelectrode Arrays for Epilepsy
Blueprint MedTech Cycle 3 Optimizer awardees:
For additional details on the Cycle 3 Optimizer awards, please see this NIBIB Science Highlight.
| Awardee Institution | Optimizer Project Title | Funding NIH Institute(s) |
| Neurava | NINDS | |
| Arizona State University* | HEAL Initiative | |
| Motif* | BRAIN Initiative | |
| MicroLeads | HEAL Initiative | |
| CraniUS | NINDS | |
| MuscleMetrix* | NIHCD/NCMRR, NINDS | |
| Neurologic Solutions | NINDS | |
| AutonomUS* | HEAL Initiative | |
| Craniosense* | NINDS | |
| Johns Hopkins University* | NINDS | |
| CoolSpine* | NINDS |
* is a graduate of the BPMT Seedlings Program (see descriptions from the Neurotech Harbor web page)
Blueprint MedTech Pathways Pilot Program awardees:
| Awardee | Company Name | Home Institution |
| Hyojung Choo | Wearable device detects silent aspiration early for patients with neurological disorders (e.g., stroke, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s) | Emory University, GA |
| Sakinah Ali | A cap that utilizes fNIRS and EEG data in order to expedite clinical indications for TMS | |
| Gloria Carrasquillo-Rosa | The development of a graphical user interface compatible with systems designed for central nervous system radiation treatment machines that support the personalized surgical care capabilities of its neurotechnology by integrating treatment plan data into 3D models to predict clinical outcomes of patients | University of Puerto Rico, PR |
| Leo Green | Synthetic DNA nanostructures can be precisely tuned for peripheral and central neuron membrane interfacing, enabling the efficient delivery of molecular therapeutics with cell specificity to address neurological impairmennts | Perdue University, IN |
| Paul Wang | A continuous, real-time eye movement monitoring and classification system for early detection of structural brain damage | Case Western Reserve Uni, OH |
| Christina Coughlan | Plasma Biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease and beyond | University of Colorado UC Anschutz, CO |
Blueprint MedTech Early Entrepreneurs Program awardees:
| Awardee | Innovative Technology | Home Institution |
| Helene Sisti | AI with cognitive neuroscience to deliver a rapid, objective assessment of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) | Norwich University, VT |
| Junjun Chen | Re-Kinesis, intersection of wearable sensing, biomechanics, rehabilitation engineering, and translational AI, with the goal of making human movement measurable outside traditional motion laboratories. | Johns Hopkins University, MD |
| Jai Thakor | Non-Invasive, in-ear wearable for epilepsy monitoring | NeuroAgent AI, Inc. & HazyEyes, Inc. |
| Kemar E. Green | Wearable, agentic neurology clinic enabling at-home screening, triage, and longitudinal monitoring using everyday cameras and sensors | NeuroAgent AI, Inc. & HazyEyes, Inc. |
| Sagar Rastogi | Digital health startup redefining athlete concussion screening with a fast and reliable mobile application leveraging AI-powered eye-movement tracking | Locaze LLC |
| Martin Han | Amplitude-Modulated Deep Brain Micro-Stimulation (DBμS) Using High-Density Microelectrode Arrays |
Cornerstone Neuroscience LLC |
| Deepak K. Gupta | Clinical Decision Support Platform for Parkinsonian Disorders (CDS-PD). The CDS-PD will be an AI-enabled Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) that will utilize a hybrid architecture of multi-agent AI and deterministic logic to provide quantitative differential diagnosis directly within the clinical workflow (SMART-on-FHIR). | University of Vermont Larner (UVM) College of Medicine, VT |