Company developing ‘ultra-portable’ X-ray system scores $24M government contract
An Atlanta-based imaging company seeking to create an “ultra-portable” X-ray system has scored an eight-figure grant from the federal government.
Oxos Medical announced Tuesday it has been awarded a $9.6 million base cost-share contract from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA. The total amount could reach up to $24.4 million, if all options are exercised.
Oxos said the funds will be used to develop and pursue FDA clearance for its next-generation, ultra-portable imaging system, dubbed Oxos X3. The machine is designed to bring medical imaging “directly to patients,” be it in a hospital bed or clinic.
Once finalized, the company believes its scanner could “transform routine care,” allowing for triage at the point of injury, especially during mass-casualty incidents.
"When disaster strikes, the ability to image a patient quickly can determine who gets care first,” CEO Evan Ruff said in a statement Oct. 6. “We are proud to partner with BARDA to help bring the Oxos X3 into clinicians' hands. Our goal is high-quality X-ray imaging that can go wherever patients are,” he added.
The contract covers the full lifecycle of the scanner, including product development, verification and validation, design transfer to manufacturing, and human-factor studies. Oxos believes this work will eventually lead to an application being submitted to the FDA for clearance, followed by the first commercial shipments.
Orthopedic surgeon Greg Kolovich, MD, and entrepreneur Evan Ruff first founded the company in 2016. It already offers a handheld digital radiographic system (cleared by the FDA in early 2021), “making X-ray available anywhere it is needed.” Dubbed a “radiology department in a box,” customers include orthopedic providers, urgent care clinics, NFL teams and medical educators, along with imaging centers and bio labs. Oxos has courted investor interest, too, raising a total of $45 million, as of 2023.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.