Date: Jul 30, 2013 Author: Don Seiffert Source: bizjournals (
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Providence, R.I.-based Lucidux LLC, a startup that makes 3-D imaging technology for surgery and other medical applications, has received $250,000 in funding from the Slater Technology Fund, a non-profit corporation that works like a venture capital firm, leveraging state and federal funding to back companies committed to building businesses in Rhode Island.
The latest round of seed money adds to about $400,000 the startup has received previously, Founder and CEO Jason D. Harry told Mass High Tech. That includes $200,000 the startup got the year it was founded, in 2010, from the Rhode Island Science and Technology Advisory Council, plus $25,000 the company won in the 2011 R.I. Business Plan Competition in May, 2011 and a research grant of $180,000 from the National Institute of Health, also in 2011.
Lucidux, founded in 2011, is developing its technology with corporate partner, Photon-X Inc. of Huntsville, Ala. The real-time, three-dimensional imaging of internal organs and tissues uses software-enhanced presentation and can be used by surgeons during procedures such as laparoscopy and arthroscopy. The company says it can highlight diseased tissue, allowing surgeons to remove it without damaging healthy tissue nearby.
Harry said that while 3-D imaging is available for surgeons, Lucidux is working on a kind that is potentially less-invasive and allows the surgeon to switch back and forth between 3-D and a normal view. The company has prototype versions, but nothing close to commercialization yet, he said.
Harry, is a Rhode Island-based entrepreneur who previously founded Afferent Corp., which focused on neurostimulation technologies to treat the effects of stroke, aging, and diabetes. Harry also previously served as vice president of research engineering at NMT Medical, where he developed minimally invasive cardiovascular implants. Harry is collaborating with Gabriel Taubin, associate professor at Brown University, and George E. Haleblian, M.D and Gyan Pareek, M.D, both of Rhode Island Hospital.
