Blood sampling technology developer Essenlix was co-founded by Stephen Chou, a professor of electrical engineering at Princeton University.
Essenlix, a US-based blood sampling technology company that emerged out of Princeton University, has disclosed a total of $20m from backers including Quadrant Management, Carret Private Investments and unnamed angel investors, Business Insider has reported.
The report did clarify whether the $20m came from multiple rounds or when the capital was provided. We have reached out to Essenlix and will update as appropriate.
Essenlix has designed a blood sampling system called iMost that attaches to an iPhone to provide full-body blood counts detailing the number of white and red blood cells present as well as an estimate of haemoglobin, the protein responsible for carrying oxygen.
Blood sampled from a finger prick is held on a slim plastic cartridge that clips over the iPhone camera for computing, with results displayed through a smartphone app.
The technology has already undergone clinical comparisons with conventional blood tests run from chemical biological laboratories. It claims the differential averaged within the margin of error permissible by US regulator Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The system could improve access to blood testing in rural areas. It may also be expanded for blood tests detecting viruses and bacteria infections, or eventually be reworked to support other body fluids.
Essenlix was founded by Stephen Chou, a professor of electrical engineering at Princeton University, whose lab focuses on developing nanotechnologies.
Chou said: “You basically have a mobile chemical biological lab in your hand. Our error is clearly smaller than the FDA’s requirement, so the data is very, very good.”
