Livivos, Inc. Awarded Phase II NIH Grant to Advance LiverScope® Device
Startup developing transformative point-of-care technology for liver disease diagnosis
This grant supports our mission to make liver disease diagnosis broadly accessible through accurate, rapid, and easy-to-use point-of-care assessment. We look forward to advancing the FDA process.”
SAN DIEGO, CA, UNITED STATES, September 25, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Livivos, Inc., a San Diego–based biomedical device startup, today announced it has been awarded a $1.7 million Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The funding will support efforts to attain regulatory clearance and advance commercialization of the Livivos LiverScope® device. The award builds on the successful completion of a Phase I feasibility study.— Pablo Prado
Livivos will collaborate with researchers at the University of California San Diego (UC San Diego), led by Dr. Claude Sirlin, Head of the Liver Imaging Research Group, to validate the LiverScope® device’s ability to measure quantitative biomarkers of liver disease, a condition with rising global prevalence and strong links to cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
Currently, fatty liver disease is most accurately diagnosed using MRI scanners; however, these systems are costly, require shielded rooms and trained technicians, and may cause claustrophobia in patients. The LiverScope®, also based on magnetic resonance, offers a simpler alternative — providing results in under three minutes with a small, open probe in a tabletop form factor. Designed for point-of-care use, it can even be deployed in mobile scanning services.
“This grant supports our mission to make liver disease diagnosis broadly accessible through accurate, rapid, and easy-to-use point-of-care assessment,” said Dr. Pablo Prado, CEO of Livivos and lead inventor of the LiverScope®. “We are grateful for the NIDDK’s support and look forward to advancing the FDA process.”
This SBIR award will support Livivos in advancing the LiverScope® through the FDA clearance process, enabling deployment in clinical settings and expanding patient access to liver disease diagnosis and monitoring. Broader access to these services will facilitate earlier and more effective treatment, improving patient outcomes and reducing the overall disease burden on society.
About Livivos
Livivos is a San Diego-based biotech company introducing the LiverScope®, an innovative point-of-care device with the potential to transform how liver disease is detected, graded, and treatment is managed. Offering liver steatosis evaluation comparable to MRI in a compact, open, bed-like form factor, the LiverScope® can be deployed in standard clinical exam rooms without subjecting patients to claustrophobic environments. Livivos is pursuing FDA clearance to make the device available to patients across the U.S., with the long-term goal of expanding access worldwide.
For more information visit www.livivos.com.
About UC San Diego Health
UC San Diego Health, the region’s only academic health system, is dedicated to delivering outstanding patient care through commitment to community, groundbreaking research and inspired teaching. Its specialty care for serious and complex conditions is consistently ranked among the nation’s best by U.S. News & World Report and other organizations. The 808-bed academic health system includes UC San Diego Medical Center in Hillcrest and Jacobs Medical Center, Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center, Moores Cancer Center, Shiley Eye Institute, Koman Family Outpatient Pavilion and Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute, all in La Jolla, as well as primary care and same-day services at clinics throughout Southern California.
For more information, visit health.ucsd.edu.
CAUTION – LiverScope is an Investigational device. Limited by Federal (or United States) law to investigational use.
Research described in this release is supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R44DK135225. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Claude Sirlin of UCSD serves as an advisor to Livivos, Inc. and holds stock in the company.
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Gayle Guy
Livivos, Inc.
gayle.guy@livivos.com
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