NovaSignal

About NovaSignal

NeuraSignal, Inc., a medical technology and data company operating as NovaSignal, is focused on advancing the management of brain health by providing real-time data on cerebral blood flow. Originally founded as Neural Analytics in 2013 by Dr. Robert Hamilton, Dan Hanchey, and Leo Petrossian, the company emerged from research conducted at UCLA. Dr. Hamilton's work during his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at UCLA laid the company's technological foundation. His hands-on experience in neurocritical care and research in resource-limited countries highlighted the need for accessible, reliable data to improve patient outcomes. The company was born after Hamilton, inspired by events like the preventable death of actress Natasha Richardson, partnered with two UCLA MBA students, Hanchey and Petrossian, after winning a business plan competition.

The company's core business revolves around its NovaGuide Intelligent Ultrasound platform, which employs a robotic headset to perform a transcranial Doppler (TCD) ultrasound. This non-invasive system combines robotics, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing to autonomously measure blood flow velocity in the brain's major arteries, a process that traditionally requires a highly specialized technician. The platform is designed for use by healthcare professionals in clinical settings, such as hospitals and clinics, to support diagnosis and decision-making for a variety of neurological conditions, including stroke, traumatic brain injury, and dementia. Revenue is generated from the sale of these medical devices and the associated cloud-based software, NovaGuide View, which allows for secure, remote access to exam data. The business model is B2B, targeting healthcare providers and hospital systems aiming to enhance their neurological and stroke care capabilities.

The flagship product, the NovaGuide Intelligent Ultrasound, received FDA clearance and a CE Mark, enabling its commercialization in the U.S., Europe, and Canada. Its key feature is the automation of the TCD ultrasound, which uses AI-driven algorithms to locate the temporal window and lock onto blood flow signals, making complex cerebral assessments more accessible and reducing operator variability. Benefits for clinicians include the ability to quickly detect abnormalities like emboli (blood clots) and right-to-left shunts (RLS), a common risk factor for stroke, with studies showing NovaGuide is significantly more effective at detecting RLS than standard methods like transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). The system also provides a cloud-based application, NovaGuide View, for real-time data sharing among clinical teams, which can speed up intervention times. The company rebranded from Neural Analytics to NovaSignal in 2020 to reflect its expanding mission beyond neurology. In 2023, NeuraSignal, Inc. acquired the business of NovaSignal, continuing the development and commercialization of the NovaGuide platform.