Lura Health Archives - Medical Design Sourcing

Cirtec and Ilika finalize Stereax battery manufacturing deal

Ilika’s Stereax M300 battery with a pen and pencil for scale [Photo courtesy of Ilika]

Battery developer Ilika has signed a 10-year deal for Cirtec Medical to manufacture Stereax batteries in Lowell, Massachusetts.

The two medtech suppliers announced their partnership on the millimeter-scale, solid-state batteries in January. Now, Ilika and Cirtec Medical say they have “concluded contractual negotiations” with the decade-long manufacturing license.

The ultrathin, rechargeable Stereax batteries can enable medical device developers to design smaller implants, wearable devices, sensors and other smart components.

Related: How tiny solid-state batteries enable smaller implants that recharge faster

Select medtech developers have already received limited shipments of Stereax batteries from Romsey, England-based Ilika’s U.K. manufacturing facility.

The first shipmen…

4 tips for sensor miniaturization from Lura Health

This rendering shows Lura Health’s saliva sensor in a retainer [Image courtesy of Lura Health]

Being in China when COVID-19 hit might not seem like a stroke of good luck, but it paid off for Lura Health’s sensor miniaturization efforts.

Without a physical presence in Shenzhen, the minature sensor startup might not have been able to line up a battery supplier willing to take on the demanding needs of Lura Health’s saliva sensor, said co-founder and CEO Daniel Weinstein.

“Supply chain right now is super difficult. Vendor agreements are pretty crazy. [Just about] every PCBA house in the country is backed up with a huge backlog,” Weinstein said in an interview with Medical Design & Outsourcing.

“Our strength as a company is trying to find ways to beat the odds that are against companies — especially startups — in this industry,” he continued. “WeR…

This tiny saliva sensor could track acidity, glucose, medication and more

A rendering of Lura Health’s saliva sensor with a U.S. penny for scale [Image courtesy of Lura Health]

Lura Health has developed a tiny, wireless oral sensor for saliva monitoring to track acidity and much more in the years ahead.

The company aims to start by noninvasively measuring saliva acidity to help prevent tooth decay, which is the most prevalent health condition globally and the most common chronic disease in children and young adults.

“It affects at some point around 90% of Americans,” Lura Health co-founder and CEO Daniel Weinstein said in an interview with Medical Design & Outsourcing. “There’s a population set for which it imposes a huge burden. And dental expenditures are $162 billion or more in the U.S. alone, so it’s a big economic and health toll.”

Weinstein founded the company in 2017 with Chief Medical Officer Dr. Saam Bozorg and Chie…