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CCTS Impact - Entrepreneurship Stories

Not all research impact stays in academia, some of it becomes a product, company, or service that reaches the market. These stories follow CCTS-affiliated innovators as they translate scientific discovery into new ventures and technologies.
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Advances in Inhaled Nitric oxide Technology for Pulmonary Hypertension

 

Abstract

Inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) is a critical therapeutic gas with vasodilatory, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial properties, used to treat life-threatening conditions like pulmonary hypertension. Previous delivery systems are complex, costly, and restricted to major medical centers. They rely on highly diluted NO in nitrogen or air, require specialized scrubbers for removing toxic nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), frequent consumable changes, and large, non-portable equipment—limiting broader adoption and increasing care complexity. iNOvodel's proprietary system generates highly concentrated (~95%) nitric oxide using safe, low-cost chemical precursors, a rapid, high-velocity gas mixing chamber to minimize harmful NO₂ formation and accurate dosing.

95% highly concentrated nitric oxide 11-300ppm broad dosing range for additional pulmonary indications 5 days of cannister use in neonatal patients for ease of use

Impact Story

Inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) is a critical therapeutic gas with vasodilatory, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial properties, used to treat life-threatening conditions like pulmonary hypertension. Previous delivery systems are complex, costly, and restricted to major medical centers. They rely on highly diluted NO in nitrogen, require specialized scrubbers for toxic NO₂, frequent consumable changes, and large, non-portable equipment—limiting broader adoption and increasing care complexity. iNOvodel's proprietary system generates highly concentrated (~95% pure) nitric oxide using safe, low-cost chemicals and a rapid mixing chamber that minimizes harmful NO₂ formation through high-velocity mixing. The team developed a single-step chemical process capable of generating medical-grade nitric oxide gas at high concentration (~95% or 950,000 ppm) without requiring further purification. This NO can be stored in compact 1–2-pound canisters for convenient shipping and hospital use, significantly reducing both cost and logistical challenges. The next major challenge is to safely mix highly concentrated NO directly with inspired oxygen to achieve therapeutic doses while maintaining toxic nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) levels below 1 ppm. The current technologies rely on highly diluted NO mixtures (0.08%) to minimize the rate of NO reaction with oxygen to generate NO₂. In contrast, we developed a revolutionary technology to mix undiluted or highly concentrated NO while minimizing NO₂ generation to FDA safety levels. Another critical challenge is achieving precise NO delivery of extremely as low as (5 µL/min) volumes for neonatal applications.

These novel technologies for NO synthesis, oxygen mixing, and precision dosing across a broad therapeutic range of 0.5 ppm to 250 ppm at inspired gas flow rates ranging from 2 L/min to 100 L/min, offers several important advantages, including substantially lower cost, device miniaturization, simplified transport, longer dosing duration without cartridge replacement, and compatibility with a broad range of NO doses and carrier gas flow rates. These innovations could expand the use of exogenous NO therapy for pulmonary hypertension, high-altitude hypoxia, respiratory infections, and wound healing in both hospital and non-hospital settings.

TSBM Benefit

Benefits Clinical

Clinical and Medical Benefit
  • Biomedical technology: The iNOvodel system generates medical-grade nitric oxide at approximately 95% purity using a proprietary chemical process and employs a high-velocity mixing chamber to minimize the reaction of NO with O2, thereby limiting the formation of toxic NO2 to FDA safety limits. This technology represents a significant advancement over conventional bulky diluted nitric oxide delivery systems.
  • Equipment & supplies: The innovation introduces compact nitric oxide storage canisters weighing approximately 1-2 pounds and a miniaturized delivery system that reduces dependence on large cylinders, specialized scrubbers, and frequent consumable replacement. This represents a substantial improvement in the equipment and supply infrastructure required for nitric oxide therapy.

Benefits Community

Community & Public Health Benefits
  • Resource access (potential): The portability, lower cost, and simplified logistics associated with the iNOvodel system could improve access to advanced nitric oxide therapies in healthcare settings that previously lacked the infrastructure required to deliver inhaled nitric oxide. This may reduce geographic and resource-related barriers to treatment.
  • Health Care Accessibility: By reducing technical complexity and costs associated with nitric oxide delivery, the system may improve equitable access to advanced respiratory therapies for patients in underserved and rural communities where access is often limited.

Benefits Economic

Economic Benefits
  • Cost savings: iNOvodel’s single-step chemical synthesis generates highly concentrated NO without requiring additional purification or dilution. This approach eliminates many of the complex and costly processes associated with conventional NO production and delivery, including multi-step synthesis and purification, dilution with nitrogen, storage in large compressed-gas cylinders, specialized NO₂ scrubbers required by some on-site generation technologies, and frequent cartridge replacement. By simplifying the overall process and utilizing low-cost chemical precursors, the technology has the potential to substantially reduce the cost of inhaled NO therapy for hospitals and healthcare systems
  • Societal & financial cost of illness: Expanded access to nitric oxide therapy could improve management of pulmonary hypertension and other respiratory conditions, potentially reducing hospitalizations, complications, intensive care utilization, and long-term healthcare costs associated with these diseases.
  • Patents: The novel nitric oxide generation process, mixing technology, and precision dosing platform constitute patentable intellectual property. These innovations create opportunities for protection and commercialization of the underlying technology.
  • Non-profit or commercial entities: Research resulted in the creation of iNOvodel, Inc., a start up company that has been featured at the Southeast Venture Showcase in April 2026.