Sector
Founder
What They Do
OptoVibronex, a life science startup, has developed non-invasive technology to help clinicians identify and characterize tissue types beneath the skin. Their proprietary Vibrational Optical Coherence Tomography (VOCT) technology measures tissue properties, such as stiffness, which can indicate cancer and predict metastatic potential. Their Vibrational OptoScope device offers a “virtual biopsy,” providing a quick and quantifiable way for physicians to determine if a skin lesion is benign, pre-cancerous, or cancerous.
The Challenge
Diagnosing skin cancer today still relies heavily on physical biopsies — an invasive, time-consuming process that can cause patient anxiety and delay treatment. For clinicians, the gap between a suspicious lesion and a confirmed diagnosis represents both a clinical and logistical burden. OptoVibronex set out to close that gap, but bringing a novel medical device to market requires rigorous clinical validation. Securing the funding and institutional partnerships needed to run those trials was the critical hurdle standing between their breakthrough technology and the patients who could benefit from it.
How Ben Franklin Helped
Ben Franklin Northeast provided the investment that made clinical validation possible, funding trials at two respected health networks — Summit Health in New Jersey and St. Luke’s University Health Network in Bethlehem, PA. These partnerships gave OptoVibronex the real-world clinical data needed to demonstrate the safety, accuracy, and diagnostic value of the Vibrational OptoScope.
Key Outcomes
OptoVibronex successfully advanced its Vibrational OptoScope through clinical trials at two major health networks, generating the evidence base needed to support regulatory progress and commercialization. The trials demonstrated the device’s ability to non-invasively characterize tissue stiffness and identify cancerous and pre-cancerous lesions — positioning OptoVibronex as a potential standard-of-care tool for dermatologists and oncologists seeking faster, less invasive diagnostic options.
