Tulane spinout LumaWave awarded $1.5 million to improve fetal monitoring during labor

Researchers from the Tulane University School of Science and Engineering have received a $1.5 million award from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) to advance fetal monitoring technology that can do something current monitoring tools cannot: directly measure oxygen levels in fetal tissue during pregnancy and labor.

The researchers plan to pursue the technology through their spinout company, LumaWave.

The award, through ARPA-H's Making Obstetrics Care Smart (MOCS) program, supports the continued development of a sensing platform created by Tulane researchers Carolyn Bayer, associate professor of biomedical engineering, and Vinoin Devpaul Vincely, a recent PhD graduate and Tulane Innovation Fellow.

The MOCS program is a national initiative designed to modernize labor and delivery care by enabling real-time, data-driven insight into fetal health.

Bayer and Vincely co-founded LumaWave to advance a new spectral photoacoustic imaging platform that uses pulsed light to generate ultrasound signals that can be measured with traditional ultrasound hardware. By sending pulses of light into the body and reading the sound waves they create, the system can reveal areas with low oxygen levels - something a standard ultrasound cannot show.

While an MRI can provide deeper physiological information, it is expensive and largely limited to major hospital systems. LumaWave offers advanced imaging at a much lower cost in a portable format that can be used at the point of care or in remote settings. Fetal hypoxia, or insufficient oxygen delivery to the fetus, is a leading contributor to adverse birth outcomes in the United States. The LumaWave platform is designed to provide clinicians with real-time physiological data that could improve decision-making during labor and delivery and reduce unnecessary interventions.

"This technology has the potential to change how clinicians understand fetal health during labor and delivery," Vincely said. "We are focused on providing information that clinicians have not had before, enabling direct, real-time measurement of tissue oxygenation deep in the body."

Bayer has spent years advancing photoacoustic imaging methods for women's health applications, and LumaWave's underlying technology was developed in her laboratory. With help from Tulane's Innovation Institute, Bayer and Vincely secured funding from the Provost's Proof of Concept Fund to build and test an early prototype.

"LumaWave is a wonderful example of the kind of transformative research that the Provost's Proof of Concept Fund was created for," said Robin Forman, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. "It reflects the power of the creativity and expertise of our faculty and students and the limitless potential that results when the university supports the transition of our research from fundamental discovery to solutions that make a meaningful difference for mothers, babies and the clinicians who care for them."

After completing his doctorate in Bayer's lab in 2025, Vincely became chief executive officer of LumaWave, where he now leads efforts to translate academic research into a commercial medical device platform. While the MOCS program allows the LumaWave solution to fill a critical need in women's health, the company will continue to push its platform technology to address unmet needs across medicine.

Tulane has submitted a nonprovisional patent application for the technology and executed an exclusive licensing option with LumaWave.

The ARPA-H award builds on years of development supported by Tulane Innovation programs and will enable the hiring of two additional team members. Bayer and Vincely also participated in the National Science Foundation's Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program, which helped refine clinical use cases and identify market opportunities.

Through Tulane Innovation Institute programs, the team has also received additional funding, including awards for placing first in two Open Medical Innovation Challenges (MIC) Nights and an Open Season Pitch Competition, as well as placing second in the $50K Demo Day competition during New Orleans Entrepreneur Week 2026. These experiences contributed to LumaWave's early company development, fundraising and validation efforts.

The award underscores the strength of Tulane's innovation ecosystem and its ability to move research from discovery to commercial impact, said Kimberly Gramm, David and Marion Mussafer Chief Innovation and Entrepreneurship Officer at the Tulane Innovation Institute.

"What stands out about LumaWave is how fully the team has leaned into the commercialization process from the very beginning," Gramm said. "From Vin applying to our yearlong fellows program and entering early-stage competitions, to securing translational funding and building a company around a promising research discovery, they've been deeply engaged at every step. We are excited about the potential impact LumaWave can have in the medical device industry and remain committed to supporting the team as they continue to advance this technology."