Independent Article from leading industry source ->MD+DI Article From last May, Nice article
Will EPGL's TopSpin Serve Up the Next Generation of Medical Devices?
A former DARPA scientist and a device startup want to change medical devices forever using bioMEMS
A phone call with EPGL Medical Science is not unlike a game of Texas hold 'em, you don't know exactly what the guys across the table are holding, but you definitely know you should at least be paying attention. MD+DI profiled EPGL last month when the company announced it would be among the first medical device companies to implement Google Glass technology. But company president and CEO Michael Hayes was more excited about something else going on at EPGL – a bioMEMS platform, codenamed TopSpin, that EPGL says will usher in nothing short of a paradigm shift for medical devices and the doctors and patients that use them. The goal is to do for medical devices what Steve Jobs did for phones.
The ace in the hole is Dr. David T. Markus, the company's VP of bioMEMS development. Markus comes to the company with an extensive background in MEMS, microelectronics, and biomedical engineering. He was also a principal investigator at DARPA, where the forefront of MEMS research has been conducted for years. “They brought together the best scientists in America, essentially doing research that is so advanced, it has little practical use, but not in all cases” Markus laughs. “As a result of being part of those programs and others, some new advanced technology was developed and I just so happened to be involved in the development of some of those technologies. As a result I was able to know how to replicate them for practical use in the medical field.”
Dr. David Markus wants to serve up the world's most advanced medical devices
Markus, who is fluent in seven languages, speaks with an ease that belies just how large of an impact he's attempting to have on the medical device industry. And if Hayes' boast that EPGL is “Three to five years ahead of any device company in this field because of David Markus,” is true, perhaps he should. He and Hayes met as friends on the tennis court and later bonded when Hayes began speaking with him about ideas for new and improved medical devices. “I had all of these ideas and hadn't realized I was contemplating MEMS ideas,” Hayes says. “David has given me quite an education on what the possibilities are with MEMS. Based on that I've made a decision that EPGL is going to be a company focused largely on advanced MEMS devices.”
MEMS technology has already impacted a variety of fields from robotics, to personal fitness, and even digital movie projection. Markus and the team at EPGL figure it is medtech's turn. “The reason why we're very confident is because this isn't dreamland stuff, this is technology that exists right now,” Hayes says. “Everything David is working on is technology that he knows how to implement.”
So what is TopSpin exactly? Or, more accurately, what does it hope to become? Imagine all of the devices doctors now use in the hospital and clinical setting for a wide variety of procedures. Some of these devices and machines are large and require designated rooms in the clinic or hospital for use. Now imagine many of those devices sharing the same core platform with advanced MEMS technology, making them much smaller, less invasive and more effective and you have the beginnings of what TopSpin promises. While Markus and his team are sworn to secrecy for full details, he does promise “Topspin will be small and noninvasive. It will be packed with all necessary smart systems. It can achieve 1 micron in movement. And it is an intelligent microsystem with advanced technology that no Fortune 500 company owns.”
A sample of bioMEMS technology for drug delivery previously developled by Dr.Markus
Markus wants clinicians to feel the same impact with TopSpin that consumers did with the touchscreen not too long ago. “It was shocking when the iPhone finally came to market. People said, 'Wow I didn't know a touchscreen could be this dynamic' “ Markus says. “ I'm sure you remember before the iPhone that the touchscreen experience was only as good as a PDA with stylus. But look at something like Gorilla Glass. It was developed by Corning in 1960 but was put on a shelf. Nobody knew it existed until Apple started using it in the iPhone.” While he remains close-lipped about much of his DARPA background Markus, very modestly, states that “You'd be amazed how much technology is out there and is available in the world.”
Hayes likes to extend the iPhone analogy when talking about TopSpin. Just as the iPhone is more than a phone and functions as a platform for application development (ala the AliveCor heart monitor), so too will TopSpin be a platform for medical device applications. The key distinction is that EPGL doesn't want to create Star Trek-style TriCorder. “We're not saying you'll hold one single device in your hand and it'll do everything,” Hayes says. “ We've developed a platform by which many different MEMS devices can be spawned, but it's all based on two or three components to the main device. But literally dozens and dozens of new devices can result from this one single device. It'll result in several unique patented devices.” As of late Markus and his team are already boasting 10, as yet to be revealed, pain management devices that have been created with the platform. Hayes predicts that anywhere up to five of these devices should be in the prototype phase and undergoing FDA 510(k) applications by fourth quarter 2013.
“The gist of it is is that we're taking bioMEMS technology, utilizing nature and the senses we have as living creatures such as touch, taste, sight, sound, balance, and giving these senses to devices. It's the ability for devices to almost become superhuman,” Hayes says.
“Take a doctor who would never consider doing a certain procedure now because they don't have the facilities or they would normally have to perform the procedure in a hospital or O.R. setting. What we're offering is several devices that will give physicians who don't have the current ability to do certain procedures the ability to do these procedures in a clinical setting in a compact and effective way,” Hayes continues.
If EPGL's ambitions ring true one won't be able to deny the inherent cool factor of the TopSpin. But Markus is quick to emphasize that this is not invention or innovation for the sake of doing so. There's a real goal in helping doctors in speeding up patient recovery and, ultimately, in reducing medical costs. “The device will be produced based on doctors' feedback when treating patients,” he says. “It's not based on any engineer notions of what's good for the doctor. We asked doctors what they needed.”
A paradigm shift? Game changer? Both Hayes and Markus acknowledge how lofty their words must sound, especially without a finished device yet revealed to the public. But Hayes carries himself like a player who knows he has a winning hand, he just needs to wait his turn. “I realize the Fortune 500 companies like Medtronic or St. Jude will look at us and scoff like we're another newcomer trying to thump their chest,” Hayes says. “And to some extent they're right because we're a pittance compared to them currently financially. But we have technology that we know they would love to have and that's what makes us something meaningful and something to recon with in the future.”
Confidence certainly, but as any experienced player will tell you only time will tell whether EPGL is holding the winning cards or have merely mastered the art of the bluff. Still, one gets the sense that Hayes has no trouble looking you in the eye when he says, “We're trying to usher in the era of the smart medical device- smarter medical devices... the smartest medical devices.”
-Chris Wiltz, Associate Editor, MD+DI
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