# National Science Foundation backs VitalFlo with $500K SBIR Grant Expansion | VitalFlo

- Canonical URL: https://wefunder.com/feed/159936
- Entity ID: wefunder:feed_item:159936
- Published at: 2022-12-14 02:01:05 UTC
- Updated at: 2025-07-18 13:10:31 UTC

## Author
Luke Marshall

## Subject
VitalFlo

## Content
Did you know that asthma is misdiagnosed in one third of adults?We think that’s a huge problem, and it turns out the National Science Foundation (NSF) agrees: they have just awarded us $500,000 in SBIR grant funding to help solve it.One of the biggest culprits in this misdiagnosis problem is Vocal Cord Disorder (VCD). VCD and Asthma present in largely the same way, and when VCD is misdiagnosed as asthma, patients may be prescribed unnecessary medications and put under financial or physical burden.Today, the best way to differentiate VCD from asthma is by having the patient perform spirometry and having the results analyzed by a specialist.The challenge is that getting a patient to see a specialist can be next to impossible. Pulmonary clinics are frequently booked up at least 6 months in advance and for patients in rural settings typically require at least an hour long drive both ways.This is why Primary Care doctors love our product so much. We make respiratory care accessible to everyone, and with that accessibility comes the power to drive real change to our healthcare system.To date, the NSF has awarded VitalFlo ~$1.1M in SBIR Phase I and Phase II grant funding. This $500K SBIR Phase IIB expansion demonstrates the success of our partnership and their continued support of our development.With this grant expansion, VitalFlo is beginning the research and development of machine learning tools to make accurate respiratory diagnosis accessible to everyone.To start, we are developing image classification tools that will help primary care doctors identify VCD using our platform without the need for a specialist referral, and this is just the beginning of how we are going to revolutionize respiratory care.We are so thankful for the outpouring of support that we have already seen through this Wefunder campaign!If you’re as excited about accessible respiratory care as we are, please share our campaign with your network and join us in driving this much needed change.