NEOMED Professor Granted New Patent

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office recently granted Crystal Diagnostics, Ltd., a second patent for its liquid crystal technology for rapid and accurate detection of foodborne pathogens, such as Listeria, Salmonella and E. coli.

Gary Niehaus, Ph.D., a Northeast Ohio Medical University professor of physiology, serves as the chief scientist for the company, which uses liquid crystal-based detection technology to detect bacteria in food. “Is It Safe to Eat the Lettuce?” (Spring 2018 Ignite magazine) earlier reported on Dr. Niehaus’s research.

A press release published on Tuesday, Feb. 4, noted that Crystal Diagnostics’ AutoXpress™ technology is scheduled for market release in April 2020.

Crystal Diagnostics, housed in NEOMED’s Research, Entrepreneurship, Discovery and Innovation Zone (REDIzone®) was founded in 2006 and is the exclusive licensee of fundamental liquid crystal technologies developed through a research partnership between Kent State University and NEOMED.