OMD Appoints RGi for the Industrial Design of Breath Ketone Analysis Platform

Oxford Medical Diagnostics (OMD) has contracted Renfrew Group International (RGi) for the industrial design of a portable breath analysis platform based upon OMD’s prototype device.

The collaboration will combine OMD’s scientific research expertise with RGi’s design capabilities to further develop an accurate, low-cost, portable and non-invasive breath analysis platform to identify and monitor certain metabolic and infectious diseases by detecting and measuring VOCs in breath.

The current device is designed for use in Type 1 diabetes, as an aid to diabetes management and to help prevent the onset of Diabetic KetoAcidosis (DKA).

In recent months the prototype system was successfully used in its first clinical evaluation, successfully measuring breath acetone from over 100 samples.

OMD’s platform is based on the Company’s main proprietary technology, Cavity Enhanced Absorption Spectroscopy (CEAS), which was developed at the University of Oxford.

The current prototype device is capable of measuring acetone in breath samples at sub-parts-per-million levels, which is in excess of the sensitivity required to detect acetone levels of patients with Type 1 diabetes.

OMD has been awarded SBRI funding and two TSB grants to support this work. The Company is currently performing the next phase of clinical trials in collaboration with an expert team at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge under the direction of Dr Mark Evans.

OMD's CEO, Dr Ian Campbell, stated: "Appointing RGi is a significant step forward for OMD. Given the robust performance of the prototype in the clinical evaluation we are now in a position to move forward with a design for manufacture.”

Bruce Renfrew, Managing Director of RGi commented: “RGi is delighted to be working with OMD to industrialize this innovative, non-invasive diagnostic platform.”