TeVido BioDevices, which prints 3D nipples crafted from human cells, has launched a crowdfunding IndieGoGo campaign to raise $35,000.
The Austin-based company recently received a Small Business Innovative Research grant from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institute of Health and a grant from the National Science Foundation for total funding worth $900,000. It is also a graduate of the Jon Brumley Texas Ventures Lab at the University of Texas at Austin.
TeVido is raising the money to cover the costs of filing for patents on its technology and methods. So far, the company has raised $8,428 or 24 percent of its goal. It has 50 days left to meet its funding goal.
“Every dollar counts,” Laura Bosworth, the company’s CEO and co-founder said at the Venture Expo Fall program. She presented an update on her company as an alumni presenter.
“Globally nearly 1.5 million women receive a diagnosis of breast cancer each year, and in the United States it is estimated that forty percent of the nearly 300,000 women diagnosed undergo mastectomy or full removal of the breast tissue as part of their cancer treatment regime,” according to TeVido. “Approximately one-third of all mastectomy patients will undergo breast reconstruction, with the final step in the process involving the nipple areola complex (NAC). Unfortunately, results of currently available NAC reconstruction techniques are unpredictable and studies highlight that patients with loss of the nipple and areola continue to experience psychological distress long after the overall breast shape has been reconstructed. Recreation of the nipple-areola complex has a high correlation with overall patient satisfaction and acceptance of body image.”
TeVido’s patent pending technology called Cellatier uses 3D bioprinting to build custom nipple grafts for patients undergoing reconstructive surgery.
Silicon Hills News did this profile of TeVido Biodevices earlier this year.
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