Teams & Projects

Dental Cavity Restoration

Many dental restorations fail prematurely due to excessively high stresses from restoration shapes that are structurally unsound. Shape-optimized cavities and restorations based on sound engineering principles can significantly lower these failure-causing stresses and, hence, extend the lives of dental restorations. However, the cavities formed after caries removal to house the shape-optimized restorations, need to be cut precisely, or the stress reduction will not be effective. Currently, cavity preparation is still performed manually, which cannot provide the precision required. The goal of the project is to design a system to enable Dentists to prepare these demanding tooth cavities using existing dental drills.

Team Members: Julia Gross, Max Lee, Kesarin Mehta, Raghad Mohammed, and Kunga Namgyal
Clinical Lead: Dr. Alex Fok

Endoscopic Tool to Remove Metal Objects

Ingestion of foreign objects, particularly metallic ones, poses a significant clinical challenge during endoscopic removal. These ingested metals and magnets can lead to serious complications such as bowel perforation, fistulation, intestinal volvulus, and obstruction. Traditional endoscopic tools, including nets, graspers, and snares, are often ineffective for securely retrieving metallic pieces and magnets. Their smooth surfaces can make grasping difficult, and forceful manipulation risks further tissue damage. The goal of the project is to design a tool to safely and efficiently remove these objects.

Team Members: Nora Fritcher, Khidhr Kotaria, Jayson Nguyen, Adhvaith Sridhar, and Yash Vyas
Clinical Mentors: Dr. Nabeel Azeem and Dr. Giovanni Roldan Carrillo
Industry Mentor: Tony Reif

Patient Facing Exercise Portal

The goal of the project was to validate a method for tracking physical activity duration, intensity, and frequency using individual heart rate data collected with a commercially available wearable device and correlating these data with cardiorespiratory fitness parameters. This data will allow clinical exercise physiologists to assess the person’s compliance with an exercise prescription and to provide feedback to meet fitness goals.

Team Members: Talha Hamza, Sheryl Ooi, Aimee Sanchez, Seungho Shin, and Abby Von Eschen
Clinical Leads: Dr. Bill Conroy and Dr. Otto Sanchez
Industry Mentor: Bill Betten

Speculum Redesign

Current inadequately designed speculums are barriers to women’s preventative health care. The current vaginal speculum has significant limitations. In patients with prolapse, different elasticity and just a higher abdominal mass such as pregnant or obese patients, the lateral vaginal walls tend to collapse inward making visualization of the cervix difficult. This usually results in the provider using excess force on the instrument, making the exam more uncomfortable for the patient. Pelvic exams, such as those needed for cervical cancer screening when a provider needs to see the cervix clearly to collect cells and test them for dysplasia, become burdensome for the provider and the patient. Compounding this with the use of additional force for obese women, these patients are less likely to adhere to the physician's recommendation for pap smear. The goal of the project was to design a speculum that addresses the current tools limitations.

Team Members: Rand Abdulaziz Abdulbari, Ridwan Ali, Tyler Little, Nesha Pokhrel, and Ellie Thomas
Clinical Leads: Dr. Jessika Ralph and Dr. Erin Zielinski
Industry Mentor: Roger Sheldon

Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt (TIPS) Training Simulator

Patients with chronic liver disease commonly develop portal hypertension. This condition occurs when the liver becomes fibrous, obstructing blood flow through the liver. The increased back pressure can lead to serious health complications and, at times, even death. The Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt (TIPS) procedure was developed to address this issue by placing a stent through the liver, allowing blood to bypass the liver, thereby reducing the vessel back pressure and associated complications. The goal of the project was to develop a training model to assist surgeons in developing their skills in placing the stent.

Team Members: Nangah Awasum, Viet Cao, Cassandra Doshi, Farhan Shaikh, and Yashaswi Subedi
Clinical Lead: Dr. Enio Perez

Intraosseous Needle Innovation

Intraosseous access is indicated in emergent situations, such as when a person experiences some type of major trauma like shock, cardiac arrest, severe dehydration, burn patients, obesity, extremely low blood pressure or severe gastrointestinal hemorrhage. In some patients, such as pediatric patients, access to peripheral veins is either not possible or delayed. The response for these cases may be to use Intraosseous (IO) access. IO access can provide the quickest way to rapidly infuse needed medications and fluids in an emergency situation.

Pediatric ER doctors need a way to safely insert intraosseous needles because of current risks associated with fluid leakage and tissue damage associated with IO needles. The solution is a self-drilling thread with a step increment to prevent the needle from driving too deep into the bone.

Team Members: Anuk Dias, Shaliny Jadhave, Dilshan Rajan, Sanab Abdi
Clinical Lead: Dr. Gwen Fischer

Telehealth Device for Fundus Photography

Age Macular Degeneration (AMD), is an eye disease that prevalently occurs in people from ages 50 and older, in which it hinders an individual’s central vision. The main effect with the presence of AMD is that the central vision of a person has the potential to be severed greatly. The peripheral sight will remain intact and it's rare to have vision loss or blindness. Since the central vision is at risk, the ability to perform a variety of activities and tasks will be impeded. Experienced symptoms are of having blurry, dark, and blank spots in the field of sight along with noticing straight lines to be wavy. AMD does not initially affect a person immediately, rather it progresses in stages, symptoms namely don’t start appearing until later intermediate levels, due to this early detection is vital.

Patients with ongoing eye disease such as macular degeneration need a home-based eye disease monitoring device with simple operation because frequent clinic trips required to monitor the disease in the present state are costly and patients with macular degeneration may be unable to operate complex equipment. The solution is a box with an adjustable phone holder on one end so the phone’s camera can be properly aligned with the internal lens. On the other end of the box is an eye hole for the patient’s eye to rest, and a collapsible chin rest that can be stored in the bottom cavity.

Team Members: Alia Bereka, Riya Gunuganti, Marie Hessefort, Hayden Hommes, Akshara Molleti
Clinical Lead: Dr. Hossein Nazari

Mobility Aid for People with High Risk of Falls

In 2020 1 out of 4 older adults fall each year in the U.S. (up from 1 out of 6 in 2010) and indications are the need is going to increase (CAGR <6.3%) for the next 30-years.

Older adults with mobility concerns need an affordable and portable device that is ideal for mobility issues by providing support and stability without compromising affordability, aesthetics, or useability. The solution is a redesigned frame (that does not look ‘medical’) with a sleeker look that is foldable with locking hinges. The frame includes an anti-tip feature with customizable handles and made with sterilizable materials. Auxiliary pieces (e.g. a cane holder) are also anticipated.

Team Members: Jorge Aliaga del Campo, Rohan Janga, Ghaida Sharaf, Sabrina  Simkhovich, Katie Stockton
Clinical Lead: Dr. Danny Sachs

Line and Cord Management in the OR

Disorganization contributes to lost productivity and reduces the quality of care. Up to 40 hours per month may be spent trying to find proper equipment. Disorganized cords makes it harder to administer intravenous medication. On average nursing staff spends 12.4-minutes managing the lines and cords in the ICU. 18% of nursing employee injuries are attributed to tripping or falling over medical lines.

Hospital staff and medical personnel need a way to keep medical cords and lines organized without significantly disrupting their workflow. The solution is a mobile reusable cord strap that is customizable to the patient with a safety release to prevent injury.

Team Members: Neha Aramkuni, Trisha Trinh, Sahaana Vasudevan, Soren Toegel, Nhi Lang
Clinical Lead: Dr. Jordan Mattson

Oropharyngeal Camera

According to the US Department of Health and Human Services: around 70% of oral and pharyngeal cancers (OPC) were detected in their later stages. The NIH reports there were 100,000 new cases estimated to have occurred in 2020. Currently there is no screening specifically for OPC and yet many patients receive an examination during their scheduled dental visits despite improved outcomes when detected early.

Health care providers need a way to detect the early stages of oropharyngeal cancer because oropharyngeal cancer typically metastasizes before it is detected. The solution is a design with a neck that fits comfortably in the throat avoiding a gag-reflex. At the tip of the neck is an LED light with a high resolution camera that provides real-time images to a screen in front of the provider.

Team Members: Salome Augusto, Eesha  Hajare, Cole Haraf, Grace Hughes, Iaong Lor
Clinical Lead: Dr. Cynthia Stull

Abdominal Entry Aid

Surgeons accessing the abdomen need to be able to lift the abdominal wall during laparoscopic surgery to gain access to internal sites. Existing tools include clamps, towel clips and a plunger-like device. However these devices can damage skin, cause vascular injuries and risk displacing bowels. They also don’t work well for all patient body types.

Dr. Mattson, a Fellow in Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women’s Health at the University of Minnesota and clinical champion for this project, needs a better tool for grasping the skin to pull the abdominal wall out of the way. The team developed a solution that is low-cost, distributes the force over a large area reducing the risk of tissue damage, and is easy to remove once the procedure is over.

Team Members: Carter Doolittle, Evan Gill, Abigail Kyllo, Samantha Schmitt, and Gracine Sime
Clinical Lead: Jordan Mattson

Awake Fiberoptic Intubation Simulator

Anesthesia is normally administered before a procedure and the anesthesia prevents the patient from breathing. To help the patient breath, doctors will intubate the patient within minutes of administering anesthesia. During intubation, patients typically lie flat, making the path from the throat to the trachea a straight shot. However, what if the patient was unable to lie flat? Awake Fiberoptic Intubation is an oxygen delivery method used when an anaesthesiologist believes there may be difficulty in placing an oxygen tube down the patient's windpipe. During this procedure, it is typical for the vocal cords to be moving due to coughing, gagging and other movements while the patient is awake.

Dr. Budde, an Anaesthesiologist at the University of Minnesota and clinical champion for this project, needs an intubation simulator that incorporates coughing and vocal cord movements to train residents so they are prepared to practice Awake Fiberoptic Intubation. The solution the team developed is the Motile Trachea Model. The trainer is small-scale, portable, anatomically accurate with moving ‘vocal chords,’ and designed to be cost-effective so that most hospitals and medical institutions can afford one.

Team Members: Aarush Bothra, Shivangi Pandey, Mia Tran, Rana Abdelshahed, and Aniruddha Paranjape
Clinical Lead: Anna Budde

External Ventricular Drainage Control

Hydrocephalus is a condition where excess cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) builds up in the ventricles of the brain. To assist the patient, clinicians perform a Ventriculostomy, where an External Ventricular Drain (EVD) is placed to drain excess CSF. The current EVD system must be manually adjusted when the patient moves, they can not measure and drain the fluid at the same time, and there are always concerns about overdraining.

Dr. Miller in the Department of Neurology at the University of Minnesota and clinical champion for this project, needs a better device to stay level with the hydrocephalus patient’s zero-line while providing accurate pressure readings. In response the team designed a wearable sensor that detects changes in the zero-line and measures inline pressure in real-time.

Team Members: Smrithi Karthikeyan, Mihir Madhaparia, Khadar Abdulkadir, Aidan Golish, and Clara Cashin
Clinical Lead: Benjamin Miller

IV Tubing Organizer

Patients in the ICU often require multiple treatments through multiple feedtubes. All too often the result is a ‘spaghetti syndrome’ of tubing. To untangle the tubing can often cause significant delays for clinical staff.

Doctors Krithika Anand & Elena Zupfer, both Pediatric Anesthesiologists with M Physicians and clinical champions for this project, need a tool to keep multiple tubing organized and prevent ‘spaghetti syndrome.’ The solution the team developed was a low-cost organizing device that prevent the tubes from intertwining and allows clinicians to quickly and easily identify which tube is carrying what treatment.

Team Members: Kyra Van Batavia, Abarna Anandaraj, and Theo Kakacek
Clinical Leads: Krithika Anand and Elena Zupfer

Modular Resistance Trainer

Bedridden patients lose muscle mass within a short period of time, particularly in the lower extremities. If the muscle performance loss is significant enough, the patient may not have the strength to return home and need to receive care in a rehabilitation center.

Dr Shernan Holtan, a hematologist with the Division of Hematology, Oncology and Transplantation at the University of Minnesota and clinical champion for this project, needs a system to assist patients in retaining their muscle mass/performance during hospital stays. The solution the team produced was a portable, low-cost, high-performance resistance training system that can be placed in any hospital room.

Team Members: Quan Dang, Ketim Lamessa,  Srivats Srinivasa, and Alec Wesala
Clinical Lead: Shernan Holton

Cerebrospinal Fluid Shunt Failure

Neurosurgeons need a way to detect and analyze the failures of specific shunt components, because the failures themselves and current shunt failure detection methods can negatively impact patients and cost health centers valuable resources.

Team Members: Isaac Wahlstrom, Alanna Carlson and Peter Fitterer
(Not Pictured: Malachi Lehman*)

Clinical Authentication

Hospitals need an efficient system to authenticate users of medical devices because improper use threatens the physical wellbeing of patients.

Team Members: Khaled Kansou, Khoi Nhuyen, Ken Hoyme, Briana Chang, David Carlson, Zane Siddiqui and Bill Betten

Digital Forensics

The Healthcare industry needs a better way to log and review data from medical devices in order to identify and distinguish incidents from events to ensure proper patient care.

Team Members: Ken Hoyme, Atishya Ghosh, Adam Boeckermann; Carson Dock, Anu Bompelli and Bill Betten

Enhancements for Newborn Incubators

Premature infants need less exposure to disruptive noises because reduced sensory exposure in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is necessary for proper development and the mitigation of hearing impairment.

Team Members: Ali Al Hinaai, Niyati Alluri, Sadhika Prabhu, Alex Olson, Megan Johnson and Roger Sheldon

Fibrosis Detection

Healthcare workers need a way to assess and quantify fibrosis in patients with breast cancer-related lymphedema to detect early formation of fibrosis and determine treatment goals.

Team Members:Ian Knoll, Isidora Mack, Emily Graba, Hannah Loukusa and William Durfee

Foley Catheter

Medical professionals performing catheter insertions require a feedback mechanism to determine if they are applying excessive force that could result in injury to the patient so that subsequent trauma, ensuing costs, and appended hospitalization periods for patients are reduced.

Team Members:Paul Rothweiler, Rick Marcusen, Andy Thai, Vivian Pham, Autumn Schuldt and Paul Gleich

Hydrocele

Physicians need a way to perform an office-based hydrocele treatment because the procedure requires a great amount of time, money, and staff to complete.

Team Members: Eric Little, Anders Gloege Torp, Molly Reighard, Gabriella Mullally, Kaden Braden and Chunxiao Guo