Preventing Dialysis Access Failure: How Auvi Labs is Building a Wearable Ultrasound Device | Rishab Veldur & Kevin Volkema

In this episode, I sit down with Rishab Veldur (CEO) and Kevin Volkema (COO) from Auvi Labs to discuss how they're tackling a critical problem in dialysis care. 40% of dialysis patients experience fistula or graft failure within their first year—leading to endless hospitalizations and life-threatening situations.

Auvi Labs is building "Beacon," a wearable ultrasound patch that patients can use for just 10 minutes a day to detect early signs of access failure. We dive deep into their journey from a university capstone project to launching clinical pilots, the challenges of building a healthcare startup, and their unique approach to networking and building clinical partnerships.

Whether you're a healthcare founder, engineer, or just interested in medtech innovation, this episode is packed with actionable insights.

Timestamps

• 00:00 – Introduction

• 01:00 – The Problem: Dialysis Access Failure

• 03:15 – From Acoustic Device to Wearable Ultrasound

• 10:06 – The 20-Patient Pilot Study

• 11:52 – How to Find Clinical Pilots

• 17:40 – Networking Playbook for Healthcare Founders

• 21:01 – The Power of a Founder Newsletter

• 23:45 – Business Model & Value-Based Care

• 29:19 – Biggest Risks & Clinical Integration Challenges

• 36:04 – Bottlenecks for Scaling

Key Takeaways

1 Start with the problem, not the solution – They pivoted from an acoustic device to ultrasound after learning what patients and physicians actually needed

2 Healthcare is relationship-based – Cold outreach has low success; invest in building genuine connections over time

3 Skip the big conferences early on – Niche events and reaching out to researchers on Google Scholar yields better results

4 Use your student email – Everyone wants to help students

5 Send a newsletter – Share highs AND lows to bring people along on your journey

6 Value-based care is the path – Working with kidney contracting entities can bypass traditional CPT code reimbursement

Guest Links

• 🌐 Website: auvilabs.com

• 💼 Rishab Veldur (CEO) LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rishab-veldur/

• 💼 Kevin Volkema (COO) LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinvolkema/

Host

• 💼 Roupen Odabashian LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roupen-odabashian-md-frcpc-fasco-183aaa142/

• 📧 Email: roupen@deltahealth.tech

#healthcarestartup #medtech #dialysis #wearables #digitalhealth #medicaldevice #startup #healthcare #founders