The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine https://www.jhuapl.edu is teaming up with the Applied Physics Lab (APL) to work on two winning medical innovation projects funded by John Hopkins’ 2022 Discovery Awards.
One project is working to develop a nanostructured drug-eluting stent to enhance natural outflow pathways in glaucoma treatment. Steven Storck, Mechanical Engineer will work with Ian Pitha and Kunal Parikh from the JHU School of Medicine on the project.
According to Steven Storck, “The researchers hope to successfully 3D the stents, and have been working with APL’s Space Exploration Sector to 3D print objects made out of nitinol, a shape memory alloy so they can be applicable for medical campus needs.”
The second medically focused project is development of a wearable ultrasound transducer that would continuously monitor venous blood flow. The device would be able to help predict and detect Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT).
CDC estimates there are over 900,000 cases and about 100,000 deaths caused by DVT per year. The team working on the project is looking to develop a hands-free patch to allow for long term continuous monitoring of patients.
Discovery awards also included studying how to develop low-cost sensor technologies to use for telerehabilitation in LMICS. Discovery awardees involving APL researchers were involved in developing embedded multilayered tactile sensors to enhance robotic systems.
Go to https://research.jhu.edu/major-initiatives/discovery-awards for more information on additional Discovery Awards.