Kompass Diagnostics has been selected as a recipient of the NIH-supported POCTRN Innovation Award through the Atlanta Center for Microsystems-Engineered Point-of-Care Technologies (ACME POCT). This award recognizes emerging companies developing transformative diagnostic platforms that can decentralize testing and bring lab-quality results directly to patients and providers. 

ACME POCT’s mission is to accelerate high-impact, microsystems-based point-of-care technologies that enable patient-centered care. Kompass Diagnostics was selected for its high-sensitivity electrochemical assay platform, which combines proton signaling and silicon transistors. Compared to conventional optical assays, the Kompass platform offers a unique combination of simplicity, stability, miniaturization, and cost-effectiveness while demonstrating analytical sensitivity on par with central laboratory methods.

“Our solution aligns directly with ACME’s mission to advance microsystems-based diagnostics that push care closer to the patient,” said Mingoo Kim, CEO of Kompass Diagnostics. “By enabling rapid hormone testing from whole blood samples, we aim to transform the most time-consuming and resource-intensive part of fertility care into something that can be done at home or in remote diagnostic sites closer to patients.” 

The collaboration with ACME POCT will provide Kompass with specialized expertise in microfluidic and device engineering, human factors design, and third-party clinical validation. The collaboration includes refining the prototype system to advance towards mass manufacturing. The company will also collaborate with ACME’s Human Factors Design Center to optimize the test workflow, UI/UX, and overall user experience for patients and clinicians.

The NIH POCTRN Innovation Award marks a critical inflection point for the company as it transitions from lab-scale prototype to product design freeze and pilot manufacturing. “The expertise at ACME POCT fills a critical gap for early-stage diagnostic innovators like us,” Kim added. “With their engineering, validation, and regulatory support, we are well positioned to accelerate our path toward making fertility diagnostics more accessible, affordable, and patient-centered.”