La Sabana is Granted its First Patent in the United States

After five years, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) granted the University a utility model patent to the Laryngopharyngeal Endoscopic Esthesiometer and Rangefinder (LPEER) medical device used to diagnose swallowing anomalies. 

This device was developed as part of the doctoral thesis of Luis Fernando Giraldo, a professor for the School of Medicine, together with Javier Burguete and Secundino Fernández, his research advisors at the University of Navarra (Spain), and with the contribution from the engineering field of Professor Luis Mauricio Agudelo and Dr. Mario Arbulú.

According to Professor Giraldo, “the device is intended to measure throat sensitivity in a quantitative and precise manner, as it detects states of loss of sensitivity (hypoaesthesia) or enhanced sensitivity (hyperesthesia), as well as the different diseases that can appear with with these two states, such as dysphagia or sleep apnea.”

Likewise, Professor Giraldo states that “having a patent in the United States is very important because it allows us to introduce the device to a very strong market, since that is where the issue of throat sensitivity has been researched. Moreover, the device formerly used for this purpose was withdrawn from the market because it had a very high error margin, thus making it unreliable.”

This is the result of the research, technological development and innovation of several projects funded by Universidad de La Sabana and Colciencias, which have allowed the publication of four scientific papers in indexed journals, as well as a technology prototyped in the industrial field, which is being validated with patients in the Colombian Pneumatological Foundation and which is in the process of commercialization.

Professor Agudelo states that the University’s first international patent is an honor and evidences the excellent work of the Schools of Engineering and Medicine: “Our solutions directly impact people through doctors and contribute to society.”