Disruptive Health Technology Institute To Receive Funding To Further Enhance Medical Technologies

By Daniel Tkacik / 412-268-1187

Carnegie Mellon University's Disruptive Health Technology Institute (DHTI) has announced a second round of funded projects by Highmark Health and Allegheny Health Network to "disrupt" health care by identifying key unmet clinical needs and addressing them with advanced medical technologies. A total of $1.7 million was awarded to projects ranging from managing chronic wound healing to reducing toxic side effects of anti-cancer drugs.

Of 16 funded DHTI projects this year, seven major initiatives will receive at least $100,000, including:

• A method of increasing efficacy and reducing side effects of nanotechnology-based anti-cancer drugs; Principal Investigator (PI) is Chien Ho, Department of Biological Sciences.
• A microscopic RFID device that reduces the amount of counterfeit drugs from entering the legitimate supply chain; PI is Larry Richard (Rick) Carley, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department.
• Improved detection techniques of early stage melanoma lesions; PI is Mahadev Satyanarayanan, Computer Science Department.
• Automated methods to monitor and coach asthma patients using metered dose inhalers, empowering the patient with more control over their disease; PI is Alexander Hauptmann, School of Computer Science.
• A technique for detecting the formation of biofilms on medical implants, which can lead to infection; PI is Jeffrey Weldon, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department.
• A robotic table to aid in orthopedic surgeries; PI is Eric Meyhofer, National Robotics Engineering Center.
• A cost-effective, sensitive and easy-to-use palpation tool to improve self-breast cancer screenings; PI is James F. Antaki, Biomedical Engineering Department.