Biometric health care company Bruin Biometrics LLC reported on Tuesday the receipt of a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II programme award, valued at USD1.4m, from The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin division of the National Institutes of Health.

The SBIR award will help BBI in supporting detection capabilities, design and clinical evaluation of the OrthoSonos, a novel device intended to advance the standard of care in orthopedics with acoustic emission technology. The device is under development to detect joint failure by assessing the friction across the full range of motion.

Since x-ray only provides a static image of the joint and the company's OrthoSonos is based on data gathered from the full dynamic range, the information provided by the device can augment the standard of care with an eye toward earlier detection. Earlier detection can reduce the complications commonly associated with revision surgeries.

Previously, BBI has demonstrated the feasibility of the OrthoSonos technology under the USD150,000 SBIR NIH Phase I programme award.