KarmelSonix device gets FDA nod

The company is traded on the Australian Stock Exchange after it was merged with an Australian company which is active in a similar field.

KarmelSonix specializes in the mathematical analysis of sounds emanating from the body, specifically wheezing heard in asthmatic patients. The device consists of a sensor attached to the patient's neck and chest near the windpipe, and a computerized system that analyses the sounds and determines whether they indicate a life threatening situation requiring the sufferer to be admitted to hospital, or whether the condition can treated at home or at a clinic.

KarmelSonix was founded as Karmel Medical in 1996. The company raised $8 million and it even received FDA approval for its device (a previous generation of the WIM-PC), but then the bubble burst and the company had difficulty raising finance for the most expensive stage of all - marketing. It was at this point that it was decided to merge the company with an Australian shell called PulmaSonix, and a third company. KarmelSonix recently raised A$ 6 million ($5.3 million) on the Australian Stock Exchange at A$0.19 a share.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on November 7, 2007

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