Dallas-based biotech startup Spectral MD has received $27 million from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority for an expanded proof-of-concept clinical trial of its AI-powered Deepview system that targets wound and burn care assessment in pediatric patients.

Spectral MD’s work could benefit the everyday treatment of wounds and burns as well as be a tool in the response to mass burn casualties in a national emergency. “During a radiological or nuclear emergency, surgeons could have thousands of patients in need of immediate, life-saving skin grafts,” according to the company.

This is the second infusion of funding from BARDA to Spectral MD, and it will go to additional development of Spectral’s DeepView for advanced burn and wound care management. BARDA will provide the new round of funding over 22 months with the possibility of additional funding up to $92 million, according to a statement.

“We received $26 million of support from BARDA from 2013 to 2018 and proved our initial product plan with successful studies,” Wensheng Fan, Spectral’s executive vice president and chief technology officer, said in a statement. “This funding announced today will further accelerate the development of the DeepView system. We are focused on burns and pediatric applications, but are also working on other everyday wound-types including amputations, critical limb ischemia, and diabetic foot ulcers.”

Spectral MD’s device is non-invasive and portable

DeepView is a recipient of the Federal Food and Drug Administration’s Breakthrough designation, which Congress created in 2012 to help expedite the development of therapies.

Spectral MD describes DeepView as a non-invasive, user-friendly, portable device that uses deep-learning algorithms and AI to aid clinicians in diagnosing and improving patient treatments. The device identifies specific areas where dead tissue ends and live tissue begins by delivering images of blood flow under the skin’s surface.

Spectral MD describes itself as “doctors, scientists, engineers, and forward-thinkers striving to revolutionize the management of wound care” by “seeing the unknown.”

“DeepView is an advanced technology that analyzes tissue characteristics to identify the boundaries of dead, damaged and healthy tissue without even touching the patient,” Spectral CEO J. Michael DiMaio, M.D., said. “DeepView is portable and is intended to be positioned over any area of the body to provide rapid, real-time results which will allow more accurate determination than is possible with human assessment.”

Surgeons can use the device to reduce the amount of skin grafting needed to treat burns, which could improve surgical outcomes, save lives, and shorten hospital stays, according to Spectral MD.