Blueprint MedTech Awards

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).

In addition to the Innovator awards, Blueprint MedTech is extending Seedling awards to 17 innovators whose applications represented special merit but were not quite ready for a larger development award. Seedling awards provide support for six months, a $25,000 stipend, and $25,000 to hire subject matter experts. For these, mentors will work with awardees to help resolve specifically identified gap(s) on the path to commercialization. Each of these awardees also has access to $50,000 of in-kind support via mentoring, regulatory consulting, and other commercialization training.

Finally, Blueprint MedTech also has Translator project awards made via UG3/UH3 and U44 cooperative agreement funding mechanisms after NIH grant review. We have listed the first four awards made via these funding mechanisms below as well.

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)

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York; 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

Florida Atlantic University Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, Boca Raton*

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

*participant in the 2022 Blueprint MedTech pilot

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

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) Hung-Yu Lin, 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