Medical Devices

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Heart valve disease is the 3rd most prevalent source of cardiovascular disease, leading to approximately 20,000 deaths per year in the U.S. alone. Moreover, there are an estimated 41,000 mitral valve procedures performed in the U.S. each year. The only effective, long-term treatment for mitral valve disease is open-chest valve replacement surgery, which is highly undesirable for elderly patients. Thus, there is a pressing need to develop novel percutaneous strategies for treatment that will reduce the number of open-chest surgeries. David Merryman and colleagues have developed a new, combined catheter that uses cryo temperatures to adhere to moving mitral valve leaflets and radiofrequency ablation to alter the compliance of the leaflet tissue to prevent prolapse and regurgitation.

Vanderbilt researchers have developed an optical-based method for real-time characterization of middle ear fluid in order to diagnose acute otitis media, also knows as a middle ear infection. The present technique allows for quick detection and identification of bacteria and can also be applied to other biological fluids in vivo.

This technology, developed in Vanderbilt University's Advanced Robotics and Mechanism Applications Laboratory, uses a minimally invasive telerobotic platform to perform transurethral procedures, such as transurethral resection. This robotic device provides high levels of precision and dexterity that improve patient outcomes in transurethral procedures.

Vanderbilt researchers have developed a new system to detect the position, orientation, and pressure exerted on surrounding tissues of a wireless capsule endoscopy device.  Magnetic coupling is one of the few physical phenomena capable of transmitting actuation forces across a physical barrier.  Magnetic manipulation has the potential to make surgery less invasive, by allowing untethered miniature devices to enter the body through natural orifices or tiny incisions, and then maneuver with minimal disruption to healthy tissue.  In order to accomplish this goal, the pose (position and orientation) of the medical device must be available in real time.