More than ten years ago, Vocxi Health CTO Greg Sherwood was assigned to the Mayo Clinic to shadow a group of pulmonologists. While on his rounds, the physician began telling Greg about the challenges and frustrations of screening for lung cancer. Greg learned that 70 percent of patients who have an identified nodule in their lungs cannot tell if the nodule is cancerous. To find out, the patient must be screened every three months with a low-dose CT scan to monitor if the nodule grows. If growth is detected, the patient has a biopsy to determine if the nodule is indeed cancerous. The reason a biopsy isn’t done sooner is that with the lungs, biopsies can be invasive, and depending on where the nodule is located, sometimes difficult surgical procedures. About 90 percent of the time, the nodule is not cancerous. For the four percent of nodules that are cancerous, it may take months or years to see growth and discover the cancer.

Greg began his journey to a noninvasive method to screen for lung cancer. He knew that if such a method were developed, it would have the potential to save millions of lives. In his research, he discovered literature on volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and how dogs could smell the VOCs of cancer in the breath. He wondered if a sensing system could be created with the sensitivity and accuracy of a dog’s nose. After his own scientific research in the lab, he saw that all the chemistries existed and were within reach.

In 2014 Greg Sherwood, working for a medical device company, met Greg Peterson, Director of Innovations Collaboration at a well-respected research university, and the building of a cross-discipline team — soil, surgical, animal science, engineering, mechanical — began.  For eight years, the team developed the system and in 2018, began their human clinical studies. Vocxi Health was incorporated as its own entity in 2022, with key members from both teams coming together to bring MyBreathPrint® to market.