Imaging Breakthrough "Sees" Lung Disease

An Israeli startup has developed a high-tech stethoscope that draws a picture by gauging lung vibrations.

doctors often disagree about what they hear through a stethoscope—and in many cases arrive at totally different conclusions. To fix that problem, Kushnir has spent the past decade developing a high-tech solution that uses the same principle as a stethoscope, but gives doctors a more accurate and informative image of lung function.

The years of research finally have paid off. Kushnir has developed a new technology called Vibration Response Imaging (VRI) that measures energy generated in the lungs and analyzes it to diagnose conditions such as asthma, pneumonia, and lung tumors. On July 23, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted Kushnir's Israeli startup company, Deep Breeze Ltd., approval to begin marketing a VRI device in the U.S. This comes on the heels of earlier approvals in Israel, the European Union, and South Korea.

Good Vibrations
Deep Breeze is the latest in a line of Israeli medical device companies whose breakthroughs have made them global success stories. Some, such as Itamar Medical (ITMR.TA), Syneron Medical (ELOS), and Given Imaging (GIVN) have gone public in Israel or on the Nasdaq, while other have been snapped up by the likes of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Medtronic (MDT), and Boston Scientific (BSX). Israeli banking sources say that foreign investment banks and global medical technology giants already are in hot pursuit of Deep Breeze, looking to take the company public or possibly cut a strategic deal.

Kushnir's process, which uses no radiation, works by analyzing acoustic vibrations given off by the lungs. As a patient breathes normally for several seconds, sensors placed on the back—in effect, electronic stethoscopes—pick up these lung vibrations and feed them to a computer, where they're processed and turned into vivid images. Conditions such as asthma, emphysema, and pneumonia each produce distinct and definable images.

"In a matter of mere seconds, a doctor using the technology can ascertain an enormous amount of information about the lung that would ordinarily take hours and require the use of several devices," says Kushnir. He serves as the chief executive officer of Deep Breeze, which is based in Or-Akiva, between Tel Aviv and Haifa. Another advantage of VRI, Kushnir says, is that it could substantially reduce demand for X-rays. (Kushnir has long criticized overuse of radiation among doctors.)

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