Each of the four founders of Silicon Valley-based Bigfoot Biomedical Inc. has a spouse or child with type 1 diabetes. That personal connection to the disease drove them to develop an integrated management system to streamline the delivery of the correct amount of insulin and reduce adverse outcomes for the disease.

Noninvasix Inc. uses optoacoustics to noninvasively measure oxygenation of the brain, without any influencing variables, to determine fetal distress. The company says its method eliminates some of the problems associated with pulse oximetry or near-infrared spectroscopy, such as degradation of accuracy with low blood pressure.

Orthonika Ltd., a spin-out from Imperial College London, is developing TMR, which it describes as the first total knee meniscus replacement. The start-up's implant is based on a proprietary polymer substrate that mimics the structure and function of the healthy meniscus, and the attachment mechanisms to the bone.