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News Updates

Notable Events:

Fernando Casas, PhD (Smith Lab), participated as a reviewer for the NIH Study Sections “Biomedical Sensing, Measurement, and Instrumentation,” and “National Nanotechnology Initiative.”  Dr. Casas also participated as a mentor in the NIH Research Experience for Undergraduates program.

Madeline Coquillette (Hathaway Brown HS), a student in the BioMEMS Laboratory of Shuvo Roy, PhD, and Aaron Fleischman, PhD, was named a Semifinalist in the national Siemens Westinghouse Competition in Math, Science & Technology. This competition recognizes talented U.S. high-school students who show exceptional achievement on research projects and provides college scholarships and awards each year. Maddy’s project was on telemetric monitoring of pressure fluctuations within bone grafts after cervical spine surgery in a goat model.

Margot Damaser, PhD, was co-organizer and co-moderator along with Firouz Daneshgari, MD (Glickman Urological Institute, CCF), of a half-day workshop titled “Bedside to Bench – How to Translate Clinical Questions into Fundable Clinical, Basic, and Translational Research Projects.”  The workshop was held during the 2005 International Continence Society meeting in Montreal, Canada.

Ton van den Bogert, PhD, has been appointed an Associate Editor for the Human Movement Science journal.

"Friends of the LRI" Event Focuses on Biomedical Engineering

Over 100 guests from the community responded to an invitation to learn about “Engineering the Future of Patient Care” at a “Friends of the LRI” event held on November 2, 2005.  Joseph B. Richey II, a member of the Board of Directors of Invacare and a Trustee of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, hosted the event.  Presenters included:  Cameron C. McIntyre, PhD, on deep brain stimulation and movement disorders; Margot S. Damaser, PhD, on female pelvic floor disorders; Shuvo Roy, PhD, on nanotechnology and microsystems; and Peter R. Cavanagh, PhD, DSc, Chairman of Biomedical Engineering, on foot complications in diabetes. 

After the presentations, guests enjoyed a reception in the lobby of the Sherwin Building and behind-the-scenes lab tours in BME.  VIPs who attended the event included Dr. William Kiser, Chairman of the CCF Board of Governors from 1977 to 1989, and State Senator Eric D. Fingerhut, who was recently named BioTech Senator of the Year by Omeris, Ohio’s bioscience membership and development organization.

In April, Alvaro Mata, PhD, who worked with Drs. Shuvo Roy and Aaron Fleischman, is slated to receive the "Costa Rican Annual Technology Award" for his bioMEMS research work at LRI. Alvaro will be honored in Costa Rica in a ceremony that includes 29 awards and will be hosted by their president.

New Technology/Product Development:

The Hand Mentor

The Hand Mentor, a "smart" exercise device for rehabilitating the wrist and fingers in patients who have recently suffered a stroke, was featured in a Washington Post article in September.  This device and its software were initially developed by Kinetic Muscles, Inc. (Tempe, AZ) in collaboration with Jay Alberts, PhD, a new member of Biomedical Engineering, who served as a consultant.  The interactive Hand Mentor provides visual feedback to the patient regarding muscle spasticity levels, force production, and range of motion.  During rehabilitation sessions, the device automatically senses the furthest point to which patients can push their injured hand muscles by themselves; then the Hand Mentor “takes over” to ensure that the muscles go through full range of motion as patients pursue their daily regimen. 

The clinical trial of the Hand Mentor involves clinical measures (e.g., Fugl-Meyer Motor Assessment), objective kinematic and kinetic measures (e.g., quantification of grasping forces and torques during functional daily activities), and an fMRI study to assess changes in cortical maps after the intervention.  Results will determine the effectiveness of the Hand Mentor as an adjunct to costly physical interventions such as repetitive task practice or constraint-induced movement therapy.

Three patients have been enrolled in the CCF trial and more patients are waiting to be called.  Potential patients must have sustained a stroke between three and nine months ago and not be currently involved in any other physical intervention therapy or study.  For more information, contact the company web site at http://www.kineticmuscles.com/ or contact Dr. Alberts via email: albertj@ccf.org.

New “Smart Implant” Sensor Shows Translational Research in Action

OrthoMEMSAaron Fleischman, PhD, and Shuvo Roy, PhD, Co-Directors of the BioMEMS Laboratory within BME, were part of a team of CCF collaborators who met with industry representatives and venture capitalists at the CCF Medical Innovation Summit in October.  The topic of discussion was a new wireless microsensor for monitoring biomechanical loads in vivo.  This technology will be used to determine indications for surgery and other therapies where current reliance on MRI and CT scans can be misleading.  Edward C. Benzel, MD, Chair of the Clinic’s Spine Institute, gave a presentation to a general audience during the panel discussion on New Spine Technologies; Douglas Lee, CEO of OrthoMEMS, explained the potential of the device to a special investor panel; and the sensor was prominently featured in the CCF exhibit. 

The device is “home grown” in that the idea was discussed, some $700,000 in funding from CCF and other sources brought in, prototypes constructed, and concepts validated—all here at CCF.  The sensor technology was developed during a five-year collaboration between LRI scientists/engineers (Biomedical Engineering) and practicing clinicians/surgeons at the Spine Institute.

The result of this translational research is the key technology for a new CCF spin-off company, OrthoMEMS, in "incubation" for the past 10 months and unveiled to the public at the Summit.  OrthoMEMS integrates microelectronics and micro-machining to put sensing systems on a single microchip. The tiny sensor feeds real-time information about loads on bone or on prosthetic implants wirelessly to the treating physician/surgeon.   All involved hope to demonstrate the high potential for the sensor’s use within 12 months in patients, which should attract investor interest and partnerships to bring the technology forward.

BioGel

In December, the Medical Innovations section of Cleveland magazine featured an article about a new polymer-based hydrogel called “BioGel” being developed by Anthony Calabro, PhD.  BioGel is a polymer that can serve as a biologically compatible matrix for the replacement of one’s own tissue (e.g., facial reconstruction, joint repair). This exciting breakthrough new product appears to resist biodegradation once inside the body and is performing well in animal trials.

Dr. Calabro was quoted as saying that a remark about enzyme-driven reactions that he heard in a seminar spurred his conceptualization of the new hydrogel.  BioGel is the subject of negotiations as a start-up company named Ohio BioGel Inc., in association with CCF Innovations.

News from CTEC

CTEC logoThe Clinical Tissue Engineering Center (CTEC) held its inaugural reception on November 17th at HealthSpace Cleveland.  An excellent slate of speakers helped synthesize and communicate the vision of CTEC to the community.  In addition to Dr. George Muschler from BME, and Dr. Arnold Caplan from Case, we were fortunate to have Dr. Norman Chagnon from the State of Ohio Third Frontier Commission, Dr. Glenn Prestwich from University of Utah and Sentrix Inc., Christopher Coburn from CCFI, Dr. Paul DiCorleto from LRI, and Dr. Ralph Horwitz from Case School of Medicine lend their comments and support to our efforts.  It was an excellent way to kick off what is sure to be a successful collaboration between the five institutions that make up CTEC.

On November 18th, we hosted Dr. Marc Cloutier and a team from the Ohio Department of Development to review goals and milestones for the coming three years.  The team re-iterated its enthusiasm and support for the mission and activities of CTEC and discussed the performance projections for the center. 

Good Reading:

The Fall 2005 issue of Cleveland Clinic Magazine contained articles featuring several BME staff members:

  • Dr. Peter Cavanagh, Academic Director of the Clinic’s Diabetic Foot Care Program, contributed an article titled Better Foot Health and Diabetes (p. 7).
  • Dr. Cavanagh and Dr. Brian Davis gave their insight on some of the medical problems experienced by humans in space for an article titled Beyond Earth – Center for Space Medicine Explores Solutions for Long-Term Space Travel (p. 22).
  • Dr. Ton van den Bogert explains his research that focuses on why women athletes are more prone to knee injuries and how to reduce or prevent these injuries, in an article titled Lights, Camera…Prevent Knee Injuries (p. 41).
  • Dr. Elizabeth Fisher discusses her long-term research study on multiple sclerosis in an article titled Tissue Damage Early in Multiple Sclerosis (p. 43).

Read articles at link: http://www.clevelandclinic.org/clevelandclinicmagazine/pdf/fall_05.pdf