Ramanomics

Vivid Dx, formerly known as Ramanomics, is developing a diagnostic platform to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The company was incorporated on July 27, 2022. Born at the University of Oxford, the company was co-founded by a team that includes Dr. Ta-Chun 'Jeff' Liu, who serves as CEO, and professors Dr. Zhanfeng Cui and Dr. Wei Huang. Dr. Liu holds a PhD in oncology from Oxford University and is a third-time founder.

The core of the business is a next-generation diagnostic system designed to address the slow and labor-intensive nature of conventional antibiotic susceptibility testing. Vivid Dx's technology utilizes Raman spectroscopy, a technique that reads the biochemical fingerprint of single cells, combined with artificial intelligence and a large proprietary spectral database. This approach allows for the rapid identification of sepsis-causing pathogens and their antimicrobial susceptibility directly from a patient's blood sample, eliminating the need for traditional blood cultures that can take two to three days. The platform aims to identify broad pathogens in 30 minutes and deliver phenotypic antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) results in approximately 3 hours. By significantly reducing the diagnostic time, the system enables clinicians to administer the correct antibiotics much sooner, which is critical in treating life-threatening conditions like sepsis, where every hour without the right treatment increases the risk of mortality.

The company operates in the medical diagnostics and biotechnology market, specifically targeting infectious diseases and the global threat of AMR. Its clients are healthcare providers and hospitals that require rapid and accurate diagnostic tools to improve patient outcomes and guide antimicrobial stewardship. The business model centers on providing this advanced diagnostic platform to clinical settings. The company has received support from Innovate UK and key figures in the healthcare sector.

Keywords: antimicrobial resistance, rapid diagnostics, sepsis, Raman spectroscopy, antibiotic susceptibility testing, AST, medical diagnostics, biotechnology, culture-free diagnostics, infectious disease, pathogen identification, single-cell analysis, AI in healthcare, clinical diagnostics, Oxford University spinout, microbial detection, phenotypic screening, medical instruments, life sciences, next-generation diagnostics