XL Vision likes UT tongue

The electronic tongue, one of the most high-profile inventions to come out of the University of Texas in recent years, has found a home in the private sector.

After 16 months of negotiations, the university has reached an all-equity deal with Florida incubator XL Vision to commercialize the device, which consists of hundreds of chemical microsensors arranged on a silicon wafer. The tongue, developed by the school’s chemistry and electrical engineering departments, is expected to have a variety of medical and industrial uses, but commercializing it has been tough.

XL Vision will start an Austin-based biotechnology company as yet unnamed that will develop diagnostic tests for human and animal conditions, and UT will be a shareholder. It is the first time the university has taken owner ship in a company in exchange for the rights to one of its patents.