Rhaeos

Rhaeos is a venture-backed, private medical device company founded in 2018 and based in Evanston, Illinois. The company's core innovation is the FlowSense platform, a patent-protected, wearable sensor that non-invasively measures fluid flow, starting with the critical unmet need of detecting shunt malfunction in hydrocephalus patients. With FDA Breakthrough Device designation and significant non-dilutive grant funding, Rhaeos is advancing its clinical program. The company aims to reduce the substantial clinical and economic burden of shunt failure, which affects over 1 million Americans and costs the US healthcare system over $2 billion annually.

FlowSense® platform: a non-invasive, wireless, wearable skin patch that uses thermal transport principles to measure subdermal fluid flow (e.g., in implanted shunts).

Current methods for shunt assessment (CT, MRI, surgical exploration) are indirect, invasive, or involve radiation, leaving a clear gap for a direct, non-invasive tool. There are no widely adopted, FDA-cleared non-invasive wireless shunt flow monitors, giving Rhaeos a first-mover advantage in this niche. Competition may arise from other startups or academic groups developing similar sensor technologies.