Ninety million Americans complain of dizziness every year. This is an important statistic for Neuro Kinetics, Inc. (NKI) (Blawnox, Pa.), a global leader in eye tracking and neuro-otologic diagnostic equipment that enables researchers to study the brain’s balance function and clinicians to diagnose the causes of vertigo, dizziness and other balance disorders.
Founded in 1984, a spinoff of Contraves, Inc., NKI finished working on the redesign and refinement of its existing products and now is focused on developing the next generation of diagnostic devices. The company’s goal is to extend its market reach beyond the research laboratories and hospitals that are its current customers – top ranked institutions such as UPMC, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Johns Hopkins, Great Ormond Hospital and Charring Cross Hospital in London – into clinics and primary care physicians’ (PCP) offices.
To support NKI’s market-driven new product development efforts, the company decided to pursue Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding. NKI engaged Catalyst Connection’s product development services to assist them in strategizing and writing an SBIR proposal to the Department of Defense.
The company has used what it learned from that process in subsequent SBIR proposal development, and also in soliciting funding from private investors. NKI won its first SBIR funding for the development of a dynamic visual acuity test. Additionally, Catalyst Connection was instrumental in helping NKI obtain a $40,000 Technology Adoption Grant from Innovation Works. The grant is being used to develop a new disposable goggle design for the next generation of NKI’s I-Portal™ 3D Portable Eye Tracking System.