Emboa Medical has gotten the boost it needs to get to the next level.
The prize money came from MedTech Color’s 4th Annual MedTech Color Pitch Competition at UCLA. MedTech Color is focused on identifying and supporting the next generation of founders aiming to diversify and bring innovation to the medical technology field, with a particular focus on African-American and Hispanic entrepreneurs. MedTech Color reviewed over 100 entries and picked the top 10 to make a pitch.
Enríquez graduated with his PhD in May 2023. He had lots of options but decided to stay here and follow through with Emboa Medical – taking a risk and seeing where it could go.
“As a biomedical engineer you hope your research can make a positive impact on human health,” said Enríquez.
Emboa Medical started as a side project with Professor Hugh Lee, Daniel Sahlein, MD, an interventional neuroradiologist at Goodman Campbell and Peter Kim Nelson, MD, a neurointerventional radiologist with NYU Langone. The issue at stake was treating stroke patients.
Stroke is the second-leading cause of death around the globe; it kills about 140,000 Americans annually. Almost 90% of stroke cases are caused by an obstruction of one of the arteries that supplies blood to the brain. Swiftly reestablishing blood flow is imperative to preserve neurological function. The current gold standard to remove an obstruction is a catheter with a self-expanding stent that acts like a rake. This method has a high risk of damaging thinner arterial walls.
“The question became, what could we make,” explains Enríquez. “We have worked on this for two years.”
The solution? Using nature-inspired design, they have developed a novel tool that increases blood clot extraction forces regardless of blood vessel size.
Before the pitch competition, Enríquez attended a four-week accelerator training session to help with different skill sets. He also worked with Purdue Innovates to sharpen his pitch skills and focus on the important things. The prep work helped.
“There is still a lot to do, but this patent-pending project has the potential to make an impact.
“I am excited about what this means for the future,” said Enríquez. “This will help us initiate the regulatory approval process towards commercialization.”
