Internal (faculty, staff, TA)
BME
2025-2026
Fall
Winter
Spring

EchoTube

EchoTube

Summary

Transforming blind nasogastric tube placement into an ultrasound-guided procedure to enhance neonatal safety and care

 

Background

One in ten infants in the United States is born prematurely, and many rely on nasogastric (NG) tubes to receive medication and enteral nutrition. However, neonatal nasogastric tube insertion is a blind procedure, and tube misplacement has been reported in up to 59% of cases, leading to serious complications such as aspiration, perforation, and mortality.

Problem

Current confirmation methods, X-ray and gastric pH testing, also present significant limitations. Chest radiography, the current clinical gold standard, exposes infants to ionizing radiation and can further delay timely care. Gastric pH testing may also be unreliable in neonates due to limited aspirate volumes and the effects of acid-suppressive medications.

Mission

Our mission is to improve neonatal safety by enabling fast, accurate, and non-invasive confirmation of nasogastric tube placement for immediate bedside confirmation.
 

Technical Approach/Methodology

Our Solution

EchoTube combines ultrasound visible echogenic bands with a pH-responsive distal tip to enable real-time bedside confirmation of neonatal NG tube placement.

Our Solution consists of:

1) Tungsten-infused silicone echogenic bands for real-time ultrasound visualization

2) Dimpled distal pH-responsive tip

Outcomes

Market

The market should grow by $30 million in the next five years and the growth is primarily driven by the needs of doctors, nurses, and neonates.

EchoTube is designed to enter the neonatal NG tube market through a licensing-based strategy.

The company would partner with CHOC Innovation to help protect its intellectual property and connect with established medical device manufacturers. These manufacturers already have production, regulatory, and hospital distribution experience.

The target users include NICU clinicians, neonatologists, and hospital purchasing departments. Revenue would come from licensing agreements and royalty payments for each NG tube sold.

 

Competitors

A comparison with leading NG tube manufacturers highlights key gaps in current placement confirmation technologies and the clinical advantages offered by EchoTube. Echotube provides clear advantages that enable safer and more efficient NG tube placement.