CMI Awards Early Stage Research Seed Grants

$25,000 for “Malleous”.

Co-PI’s:

Michael McDowell, MD (UPMC Department of Neurosurgery)

Harvey Borovetz, PhD  (Distinguished Professor of Bioengineering, Swanson School of Engineering)

The grant is for development of a novel surgical instrument that combines suction and retraction tools into one device. The resultant product concept (patent pending) will provide substantial reduction in the duration,  cost, and effectiveness of many surgeries.

$15,000 for “Novel Triplex ultrasound array probe for staging carotid artery athersclerosis plaques”

Co-PI’s:

Zhiyu Sheng, PhD (Postdoctoral Associate, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh)

Kang Kim, PhD (Professor of Bioengineering and Medicine, University of Pittsburgh)

Edith Tzeng, MD (Chief of Vascular Surgery, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, PA)

The grant is for development of a new ultrasound transducer for non-invasive imaging of unstable lipid-filled arterial plaques.. These “vulnerable plaques” are a cause of sudden death in patients with atherosclerotic disease. The new technology can be used with commercially available ultrasound imaging equipment to identify at-risk patients for emergency treatment.

$10,000 for “noVRel”

Co-PI’s:

Sejeal Katiyar (Undergraduate Bioengineering student, Swanson School of Engineering)

Edward Andrews, MD (Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, UPMC)

The grant is for the development of an advanced Virtual Reality headset for use by surgeons in the OR to visualize elements of the surgical field with high fidelity. The headset will adapt commercial VR equipment for use in the OR to achieve multi-modal visualization in real time.