Company
Portfolio Data
Back to Company SearchZeteo Tech, Inc.
UEI: Q5CRCJW547Z6
Number of Employees: 18
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: No
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
SBIR/STTR Involvement
Year of first award: 2014
13
Phase I Awards
7
Phase II Awards
53.85%
Conversion Rate
$1,918,146
Phase I Dollars
$6,379,172
Phase II Dollars
$8,297,319
Total Awarded
Awards
Real-Time Aerosol Monitoring for Harmful Algal Blooms and Toxins via MALDI-TOF MS
Amount: $174,707 Topic: 9.2
Harmful algal blooms (HAB) detrimentally impact the health of populations and economies on a global scale. Toxins produced by these algae affect sources of food and water. Another less well understood result of HAB is the aerosolization of the toxins they produce. The initial consequences of toxin inhalation on human health are being revealed through elevated hospitalization rates in coastal regions during HAB events. Research in this area is hampered by the inability to accurately determine exposure levels due to the transient nature of aerosolized toxins. Screening the aerosol environment of coastal regions rapidly, accurately, and affordably for a wide range of algal toxins will provide relevant agencies with necessary real-time aerosol identification capabilities. Our proposed solution is a portable, fieldable, automated MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer that can act as an early warning system for coastal populations. The knowledge generated from this technology would enable local officials to make informed decisions on emerging algal blooms more quickly, better protecting coastal communities and industries. The system could revolutionize the discovery of emerging HAB, allowing aerosolized algae and toxins to be identified and quantified. This novel capability will empower future research into the impacts of aerosolized algal toxins on human health.
Tagged as:
SBIR
Phase I
2024
DOC
NOAA
Miniature TOF Mass Spectrometer with Enhanced Resolution
Amount: $149,965 Topic: S13
Zeteo Tech, Inc. nbsp;proposes to design, develop and prototype a robust, small size, weight, and power (SWaP) TOF mass spectrometer with enhanced mass resolving power (m/Delta;m ge; 25,000, FWHM) and practically unlimited mass range, which will allow in situ detection of organic and biomolecules in complex mixtures. It is based on a novel design of a multi-reflection TOF using microfabrication techology. The mass analyzer operates at low static voltages (a few hundred volts). Using static voltages (without pulsing) simplifies the electronics and minimizes power consumption for the proposed miniature mass spectrometer.In phase I we will complete a preliminary design of the miniature TOF mass analyzer with enhanced mass resolving power and prototype key elements of the design.
Tagged as:
SBIR
Phase I
2023
NASA
Field Portable Bioaerosol Identification with Miniaturized MALDI TOF MS
Amount: $871,587 Topic: CBD212-003
All detection/identification systems face the same challenges which are summed up in what we call the five “S’s” – Sensitivity, Specificity, Speed, SWAP (size, weight, and power), and Co$t-per-Test. The tradeoffs between these factors determine the applicability of the detection/identification system to support operational needs. Our low cost is driven by the elimination of agent specific reagents. MALDI TOF MS uses commonly available chemicals and are not subject to the supply chain issues that plague PCR and immunoassay based bioidentifiers. Our detection method is based on MALDI (Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization) mass spectrometry, which over the past several years has become a gold standard clinical diagnostic tool. The Zeteo team has been developing this science and technology over several years. The system samples individual bioaerosol particles and uses laser-based, Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (TOF MS) to determine the masses of the biomolecules (proteins, peptide, lipids, carbohydrates) across a wide mass range (100-100,000 Daltons). This technique was pioneered by the Zeteo team when employed at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU-APL) and, in one format, has been commercially transitioned to clinical diagnostic laboratories worldwide where >10,000 different clinical isolates are accurately identified. This powerful technique measures specific threat signature masses derived directly from the genome of the threat organism, or toxin-producing organism, (analogous to PCR or WGS signatures) and are not class-generic spectral features typical of infrared or Raman approaches. While the bioidentifier has excellent specificity and sensitivity (~100 organism) for nucleic acid-containing microbes, it also has outstanding specificity and sensitivity (pg) for biological toxins, and other biochemical threats. The threat databases for the sensor can instantly be updated at the system level, as signatures and algorithms improve, and new threats are added. The effort proposed here combines a novel electrospray method to prepare particles for analysis, significantly reducing pumping size and power requirements. Ions are formed in a low vacuum region before entering the high vacuum of the mass analyzer. In Phase I we demonstrated the efficacy of each of the major system components. Leveraging on the successful results from our Phase I SBIR effort, we propose development and deployment of an advanced detection system that features non-invasive sampling, carries out automated sample preparation, provides an answer in < 1 minute, has high sensitivity (zeptomoles of sample), specific (based on Gold Standard Clinical Assays), and low-cost (pennies-per-test). We will also leverage our experience with AI processing of single particle MALDI spectra to demonstrate the ability to detect trace levels of threat agent (10’s of particles) in complex backgrounds.
Tagged as:
SBIR
Phase II
2023
DOD
CBD
Noninvasive Diagnostic Markers of Lower Respiratory Tract Infection in Mechanically Ventilated Patients
Amount: $967,498 Topic: NIAID
Project Summary/Abstract Lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) is the most common infectious cause of death. LRTI affects patients more often in ICUs, especially patients with mechanical ventilators. Early initiation of short-course antibiotic therapy is the cornerstone in managing mechanically ventilated patients with LRTI. However, using the current clinical criteria, a diagnosis of LRTI is typically not made until an infection in the lower respiratory tract is well established. To address the current limitations, molecular diagnostic technologies such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based multiplex assays have been developed. However, they cannot distinguish between colonization and infection. Therefore, a more sophisticated diagnostic methodology is needed for LRTI diagnosis and management. Human exhaled air has great potential to address the current limitations in diagnosing LRTI. However, the lack of a suitable collection system for clinical use put a major barrier to exploring the medical potential of using human exhaled air. To address these limitations, Zeteo Tech renovated the capture mechanism and developed a novel collection system, BreathBiomicsTM, for biomolecules for human breath analysis. Specifically, we demonstrated that BreathBiomicsTM could be configured into mechanical ventilators for collecting biomolecules in the exhaled air from intubated patients in intensive care units. Most importantly, by characterizing these biomolecules using mass spectrometry, we identified truncated proteoforms, which are the products of activated proteases, and demonstrated that truncated proteoforms had the diagnostic potential for LRTI in a pilot study. Considering this evidence, we propose to determine whether truncated proteoforms in human exhaled air can be used as a noninvasive method for LRTI diagnosis and early prediction of LRTI in mechanically ventilated patients. Our work would largely assist decision-making for clinicians regarding antibiotic treatment and dramatically improve patients' clinical outcomes by limiting antibiotic requirements and minimizing harmful exposure to unnecessary antibiotic treatment.
Tagged as:
SBIR
Phase II
2023
HHS
NIH
Multiplexed Biothreat Detection with Fieldable Mass Spectrometry
Amount: $995,763 Topic: DHS211-011
Our Phase 1 effort demonstrated that high resolution MALDI-MS can reliably deconvolve complex mixtures and accurately identify the individual components. The Phase 1 prototype was an enhanced version of a mass analyzer like that of the BioTOF system and demonstrated both enhanced resolution and higher sensitivity. This effort will further improve mass resolution and sensitivity and result in a High-Performance BioTOF platform. We will upgrade existing real-time BioTOF signal processing and classification software to incorporate multiplex classification capability and statistically analyze performance.During the first three months of this effort, we will integrate these enhancements to produce the first High-Performance BioTOF system. After integration, we will verify operability and performance with simulant mixtures, followed by testing in BSL-2 with mixtures of five inactive agents. A second system will be completed by the end of month six, and we will begin field testing as these systems are completed. Two additional systems will be completed by month 14 allowing us to ramp up field testing from two to four sites. To examining signature stability over time, one of these systems will undergo inactive agent testing in MRIGlobal’s BSL-2 laboratory during year two. Using agent data collected at MRIGlobal we will train a classifier to detect both single agents and mixtures of up to five agents. This classifier will be installed into the current BioTOF real-time system and will be utilized during field tests. Additionally, field test data will be archived for further post-collection analysis, algorithm optimization and ROC curve generation.
Tagged as:
SBIR
Phase II
2022
DHS
CWMD
Field Portable Bioaerosol Identification with Miniaturized MALDI TOF MSÃÂ ÃÂ
Amount: $167,460 Topic: CBD212-003
Rapid, real-time bioaerosol identification is a key aspect in preventive measures for infectious disease outbreaks, e.g. SARS-CoV-2 or tuberculosis. Current screening tools are either non-specific, or are slow, costly, and reagent burdened. As with most respiratory pathogens, such diseases are primarily spread through human discharge of pathogen-containing droplets created by coughing, sneezing or even normal breathing. The ability to rapidly, accurately, and affordably screen environment for a wide range of aerosolized pathogens arising from agricultural sources and human exhaled breath is critical to control the spread of these types of communicable diseases. Mass spectrometry (MS) is a powerful analytical technique for fast identification of biomolecules because of its high speed, specificity, and sensitivity. Real-time analysis of airborne particles containing pathogen organisms by field-portable MS-based system will help identify infected individuals and improve response and management to mitigate disease spread. The goal of this project is to develop and evaluate a field-portable mass spectrometry-based diagnostic/screening system that analyzes respired aerosols on-the-fly and provides rapid, accurate information about the infectiousness of the patient at extremely low cost-per-sample. The proposed system that combines efficient bioaerosol collection coupled with rapid processing and miniature mass spectrometer will provide a novel, non-invasive methodology for sensitive detection of infectious persons. The capability to conduct automated and constant air monitoring for presence of aerosolized pathogens will radically improve the ability to deal with pandemic threats
Tagged as:
SBIR
Phase I
2022
DOD
CBD
Multiplexed Biothreat Detection with Fieldable Mass Spectrometry
Amount: $149,811 Topic: DHS211-011
Protection of the US Homeland from disease causing and deadly biological threats requires the ability to rapidly identify aerosolized materials that can include a wide range of biological components alone, and in mixtures. Our proposed sensor technology for this multiplexed identification tool is a modification of our existing aerosol-sampling bioidentifier. The proposed system collects bioaerosol particles and uses laser-based, time-of-flight mass spectrometry to determine the masses of the biomolecules (proteins, peptide, lipids, carbohydrates) across a wide mass range (100-100,000 Daltons).Current versions of this sensor have been focused on identification of single individual threat agents in a series of complex backgrounds, The work proposed here seeks to greatly enhance the mass spectral resolution such that complex mixtures can be more readily deconvoluted and identified. Initial modeling and simulation studies have been conducted that predict that modification of the mass spectrometer analytical engine can result in more that an order of magnitude enhancement of spectral resolution. This will enable the system to identify the individual threat materials in mixtures of five or more components. The development of such a system will support protective systems against biothreats for government uses and in the commercial sector at commercial buildings, entertainment venues, shopping centers and transportation systems.
Tagged as:
SBIR
Phase I
2021
DHS
CWMD
SBIR Phase I: Automated Robotic Disinfection System (COVID-19)
Amount: $256,000 Topic: CT
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project will improve infection control in public transportation. There is currently no high-speed, autonomous method capable of decontaminating commercial aircraft and public transit vehicles. The proposed technology rapidly inactivates viruses and other potential biothreats in an automated robotic disinfection system. This SBIR Phase I project proposes development and scaling of a system using radiofrequency (RF) directed energy to activate a benign chemical, producing biocidal reactive oxygen on surfaces. Preliminary studies of MS2 bacteriophage viruses have demonstrated inactivation of 99.999999% of MS2, despite being 7-10x more difficult to inactivate than SARS-CoV-2. The proposed system consists of four subsystems: application sprayer, RF, robotics, and power. This project will optimize and integrate these subsystems. A key technical objective is identifying the power density threshold and appropriate frequency for virus inactivation without negative interactions with electronic equipment. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
Tagged as:
SBIR
Phase I
2021
NSF
Development of ZTF Occupant Detection System
Amount: $499,733 Topic: 20-NH1
Zeteo Tech, Inc. and FLIR Systems will develop a concept for the Development of ZTF Occupant Detection System. ZTF will use a rigorous systems engineering approach to mature the ZTF Vehicle Occupant Detection System conceptual design to a highly functional, cost-affordable design of a pre-product that would be developed and tested in a Phase II effort.ZTF will conduct a marketing study to evaluate commercial marketing approaches and identify future customers.
Tagged as:
SBIR
Phase II
2021
DOT
Development of ZTF Occupant Detection System
Amount: $146,367 Topic: 20-NH1
Zeteo Tech, Inc. and FLIR Systems will develop a concept for the Development of ZTF Occupant Detection System. ZTF will use a rigorous systems engineering approach to mature the ZTF Vehicle Occupant Detection System conceptual design to a highly functional, cost-affordable design of a pre-product that would be developed and tested in a Phase II effort.ZTF will conduct a marketing study to evaluate commercial marketing approaches and identify future customers.
Tagged as:
SBIR
Phase I
2020
DOT