ViBo Health is part of UCLA Magnify
ViBo Health USA has now been accepted into the UCLA Magnify Incubator.
UCLA has been ranked #1 out of 225 universities in creating start-ups.
ViBo Health is part of ESA BIC
ViBo Health Europe participates in the ESA Business Incubation Centre Portugal.
The European Space Agency (ESA) sponsors the BIC program.
For more information, read our press release about this great application of space technology.
ViBo Health has won an EIT Health award
This activity has received funding from the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). This body of the European Union receives support from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme
ViBo Health is part of the IPN Incubator
We have been accepted into the prestigious incubator of the Instituto Pedro Nunes (IPN) in Coimbra, Portugal.
The IPN Incubadora has been recognized as one world's top incubators.
WHAT IS METABOLOMICS?
Metabolomics refers to the study of metabolites—products of metabolism—
and the processes within a biological system that use or transform them. Metabolites are small molecules that can be intermediate or end products in a chemical process. Metabolomics has been an “emerging field” for the past five decades and has come to the forefront in the past few years as a powerful set of tools for studying organisms. As one of the “omics”, it finds a natural connection with genomics, proteomics, and the other related disciplines. Metabolomics affords insight into the physiological status of an organism. In a similar vein, the metabolome refers to the set of these metabolites within a biological system.
Some metabolites are familiar to many people, and include amino acids, sugars, vitamins, fatty acids, etc. Metabolites also include external (exogenous) compounds such as medications, toxins, components of foods, etc. In considering why metabolomics is so relevant to health status, consider that current diagnostic techniques rely on population norms and therefore are not specific to individuals. In that sense, available diagnostics are not personalized medicine.
Metabolomics has identified, characterized, and cataloged 100s-1000s of compounds in humans that can be linked to specific metabolic processes. Many of these processes can be further linked to health and disease states. Currently these metabolites can be measured through in vitro (ex vivo) NMR and Mass Spectrometry (MS).
Precise characterization and separation of the many compounds require expensive equipment with high resolution and highly repeatable sample preparation techniques. ViBo Health is working to change how, when and where we are able to track our metabolites.
SMART HEALTH TRACKING STARTS WITH VIBO HEALTH
We will offer many of the benefits of traditional laboratory tests without the pain of a blood draw and the waiting times associated with wet laboratory tests. Our tests can be used several times per week to offer a timeline (longitudinal) and predict healthcare status changes on an individual, and population bases. The tests provide data for the individual user to maintain and control a health status. Additionally, GPs, clinicians, and health workers can be provided diagnostic indicators of disease. The privacy of the customers is secured throughout, and all services are opt-in.
The customer benefits through cost savings for tests and the comfort of knowing “how they are doing” and what to expect at the next doctor visit. Clinicians benefit from longitudinal, dynamic and comparable data for each customer that is currently difficult or not practical to obtain. The healthcare system and the entire society benefits from better informed public health efforts, cost savings, more actionable data, and improved outcomes.
WHAT IS PREDICTIVE, PRECISE, PERSONALIZED MEDICINE?
To better understand the concepts of precision and personalized healthcare, it is helpful to start with how conventional healthcare works. In general, healthcare relies on population studies to set normal ranges for various diagnostics. The diagnosis of a disease (or lack of one) relies on observation, testing and imaging of a patient and then comparison of the results with population norms. Biological systems are complex and “normal” for a given organism can often be well outside of population norms. Medications, stress, and other factors can also drive particular test results well outside of normal without there necessarily being an underlying disease. Perhaps more importantly, when therapeutics are used, the response of individual can deviate substantially from “normal”. Genetic factors, for instance, can mean that a given therapeutic is useless for a particular person. Under conventional healthcare, diagnosis and treatment is based on norms and then further observation of a person’s response. Under personalized healthcare, diagnosis and treatment is tailored to the individual and is often based on genomic, proteomic, and other individual information.
The example of statins can help distinguish personalized healthcare: currently, statins are recommended for anyone with a cholesterol problem. The medications lower “bad” cholesterol levels on blood tests. However, only an estimated 10% of the population benefits from these medications as only they have the appropriate genetic profiles (Torjesen Ingrid. BMJ 2018; 363:k5110). Under personalized healthcare, a patient would have been genetically screened prior to such a medication being prescribed.
Similarly, precision healthcare is often used interchangeably with personalized healthcare. However, it is generally accepted that precision healthcare refers to targeting treatments based on genomics and other data to groups best suited to those treatments.
Finally, predictive healthcare is simply the ability to predict when or if a person is likely to have a particular disease or other adverse health state. While some genetic tests can, for instance, suggest that an individual is much more likely to develop a particular condition, in general predictive healthcare requires trends which implies the need for a timeline of diagnostics.
OUR TECHNOLOGY
Our product will give consumers (patients) and experts (clinicians) a new tool that makes practical a daily test to track health status over time and is based on metabolic processes rather than simple vital signs.
By combining next generation bench-top hardware based on Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) with advanced signal processing and machine learning, consumer health checks are a simple, pain-free, 10-second test involving placing an extremity inside our scanner. Data is then compared, analyzed and shared automatically, and patient trends are presented with recommended follow-on studies and test within seconds.
OUR TEAM
ViBo Health was formed to bring this technology and vision to fruition. The two founders are experienced medical device entrepreneurs with strong physics and IP backgrounds. Dr. Gil Travish has over 20 years’ experience in hard tech, physics, and has founded four companies including two in medical devices. Armin Azod is a practicing IP lawyer with his own firm in Los Angeles. He lives part of the year in Munich. The two have worked together on various projects over the past 15 years.
CONTACT
ViBo Health LLC (USA)
℅ Magnify at CNSI—UCLA
570 Westwood Plaza
Bldg. 114. Room 5324. WS#8
Los Angeles CA 90095-7227
USA
ViBo Health (Europe)
℅ IPN-Incubadora
Rua Pedro Nunes
3030 - 199 Coimbra
Portugal