UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM
The focal point of CBID's undergraduate program is Design Team, a set of courses offered through the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Over the course of an academic year, teams of students design novel medical devices to solve problems identified by practicing clinicians and members of industry. Over the past five years, these design teams have completed 67 medical device projects, upon which the university has filed eight provisional patents (with three patent applications pending) and negotiated two licensing agreements.
Recent devices developed by BME undergraduates are:
RHID: Rapid Hypothermia Induction Device
To improve advanced life support for cardiac arrest victims, RHID is a field-deployed system to begin cooling the brain while a heart attack victim is riding in the ambulance to the hospital. Immediate brain cooling is expected to reduce the risk of neurological damage associated with heart attack patients. Current Status: Patent pending, licensed. Faculty Sponsor: Harikrishna Tadri, MD
SutureCell™: Stem Cell Delivery System
A device that provides orthopaedic surgeons the ability to deploy a stem cell coated suture during reparative surgery, particularly in the areas of bridging gaps in tissue under tension, such as a ruptured tendon. By using stem cell-therapeutic suture, SutureCell™ is expected to increase tissue regeneration and reduce scar tissue formation during the healing process. Current Status: Patent pending, development continuing. Industry Sponsor: Bioactive Surgical, Inc.
SurgyPack™: A Novel Means for Bowel Packing
For use during abdominal surgery, SurgyPack™ is a bowel-packing device that supplants the current technique bowel packing using OR towels and cotton packs. The device reduces the time required for the packing procedure, eliminates the need to repack, and reduces the incidence of post-operative adhesions. Current status: Patent pending, licensed and in clinical use. Faculty sponsors: Robert Bristow, MD & Antonio Santillan, MD, MBA, Gynecology and Obstetrics, JHU School of Medicine.
The ICU Mover system was designed, built and tested to enable ICU patients to walk while still connected to ICU equipment such as a cardiac monitor, a ventilation system, an oxygen tank, as well as an IV. Reducing the staff needed to accompany the patient from 4 to 2, ambulation has been shown to speed the recovery process. Current status: In clinical use. Faculty sponsor: Dale Needham, MD
The successes of these projects have unleashed a previous dormant entrepreneurial spirit among our undergraduates, who have won dozens of sponsored grants, national design, and business plan competitions. Winning these competitions has in turn translated into widespread publicity for our undergraduates and their future success in biomedical engineering.
On Design Day, held every spring, Design Teams deliver both oral and poster presentations of their products, detailing design ideas resulting from their research and coursework.
A full description of the undergraduate program is given on the BME Undergraduate Program website.