Lumius: Fast, smart, accessible 3D ultrasound for everyone

Lumius

Fast, smart, accessible 3D ultrasound for everyone

Active

https://www.lumius-imaging.com

Fast, smart, accessible 3D ultrasound for everyone

Ultrasound today is still mostly 2D. Clinicians have to imagine the 3D anatomy in their head while also moving the probe at the same time. This makes procedures like vascular access hard to learn and perform consistently, especially for beginners. ~50% fail on their first attempt. Hospitals also spend millions each year on 2D ultrasound training. Meanwhile, existing 3D ultrasound devices can cost >10× as much. Lumius is building fast, smart, and accessible 3D ultrasound systems to eliminate this 2D guesswork. Our technology shows a clear, real-time 3D view of what’s inside the body. It works over a large volume, not just a thin slice. The device is also affordable, compact, and portable. We are starting with vascular access, especially central line. Future use cases include blood clot detection, tumor diagnosis, and biopsy guidance. Our long-term vision is a universal 3D ultrasound platform that brings easy-to-use, real-time imaging to a wide range of clinical and eventually consumer applications.

Active Founders

Chenhang Li

Founder

Cofounder and COO/CFO of Lumius, building 3D ultrasound to be portable, affordable, and scalable outside traditional hospitals. Ph.D. from Duke and passionate about wearable electronics.

Chenhang Li

Founder

Cofounder and COO/CFO of Lumius, building 3D ultrasound to be portable, affordable, and scalable outside traditional hospitals. Ph.D. from Duke and passionate about wearable electronics.

Luca Menozzi

Founder

Co-founder and CTO of Lumius. PhD from Duke in ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging.

Luca Menozzi

Founder

Co-founder and CTO of Lumius. PhD from Duke in ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging.

Tri Vu

Founder

Cofounder @ Lumius. PhD in BME from Duke. Trying to make ultrasound devices that people want.

Tri Vu

Founder

Cofounder @ Lumius. PhD in BME from Duke. Trying to make ultrasound devices that people want.

Company Launches

Lumius — The 3D Camera for the Body

See original launch post

TL;DR: Lumius is making real-time, accessible, and intelligent 3D ultrasound to advance beyond today’s widely used 2D ultrasound (500 million scans annually). Our vision is to make 3D ultrasound a universal camera for the body.

https://youtu.be/bWlJD4_Bx4k

Backstory

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Luca Menozzi, Chenhang Li, and I bonded over ultrasound during our PhDs at Duke. For years, it has bothered us that ultrasound looks largely the same as it did decades ago. It is safer and more accessible than imaging tools like PET, CT, or MRI, yet it has never quite become as widely used in everyday care as it should be.

The Problem

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The vast majority of ultrasound imaging today is still 2D. Clinicians have to maneuver a probe while mentally reconstructing 3D anatomy from flat images. That makes ultrasound hard to learn and difficult to use, especially for newer clinicians. 3D ultrasound does exist today, mainly for cardiac and fetal imaging, but current systems cost roughly 10x more than standard 2D ultrasound machines.

The Solution

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Our tech shows a clear on-the-fly 3D view of what's inside the body with AI assistance. Instead of relying on thin 2D slices, users see the full volume in context, eliminating the 2D guesswork that makes ultrasound difficult to use.

Our device will be affordable, compact, and portable. AI integration will also make it context-aware and intelligent, guiding users by explaining what they’re seeing and what to do next. For example, automatically detecting and extracting blood vessels, nerves, muscle, and more.

We're starting with vascular access, particularly central line placement. This is a procedure where ~50% of first attempts fail, especially among new clinicians. And hospitals spend millions each year training clinicians on 2D ultrasound. From there, we will expand to blood clot detection, nerve block imaging, tumor diagnosis, and biopsy guidance. Our long-term vision is to make 3D ultrasound a universal camera for the body, accessible to everyone.

Our Asks

We'd love to hear from:

Clinicians and hospital innovation teams dealing with vascular access, nerve blocks, and/or ultrasound-guided procedures
Med device innovators or anyone in the healthcare/medtech space that are interested in 3D imaging guidance
Anyone with feedback on medical imaging, hardware, or FDA pathways

Please reach out to us at contact@lumius-imaging.com or book a quick call

Sources: https://bjcardio.co.uk/2008/01/ultrasound-guided-central-venous-access/ https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Rapid-Femoral-Vein-Assessment-(RaFeVA)%3A-A-protocol-Brescia-Pittiruti/fade5949934e6e5a0fdaa8e798d5bf89934f9c50/figure/8 https://academic.oup.com/academicmedicine/article-abstract/85/9/1462/8353240