Two Named Technology Development Award Recipients

April 27, 2015 - Samueli School researchers have won two of just four $200,000 technology development awards from the University of California Center for Accelerated Innovation (UC CAI). The UC CAI, a collaboration of all five UC medical campuses, is focused on advancing promising medical/health technologies from research to commercialization. This year, out of 48 pre-applications submitted for technologies addressing heart, lung and blood diseases, 24 were invited to submit full applications and just four grants systemwide were awarded.

Elliot Botvinick, biomedical engineering associate professor, is developing a microchip device to continuously monitor lactate concentration in critically ill patients. While lactate monitoring has been shown to significantly improve outcomes in trauma and sepsis patients, current technologies require the logistical burdens of serial monitoring and/or lab panels. This real-time measurement device can return results continuously, helping doctors better achieve goal-directed treatment.

Arash Kheradvar, biomedical engineering associate professor, is constructing a patient-specific self-regenerative hybrid heart valve. The valve, comprising a super-elastic mesh, will have the potential to last a lifetime. It will be tightly enclosed by multiple layers of the patient’s muscle and cells, allowing it to immediately integrate into the heart and regenerate as if it were a natural organ.