Advanced Platform Technology Center
Joseph Potkay, Ph.D. Receives Merit Award
Advanced Platform Technology Center Investigator Receives Merit Award to Further Research on Artificial Lungs: Research Published in Lab on a Chip
Researchers with the Advanced Platform Technology (APT) Center of Excellence at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), the Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center (LSCVAMC), and the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System have recently received a $824,944 merit review award from Veterans’ Affairs Department of Rehabilitation Research and Development to further develop technology to improve the rehabilitation of veterans suffering from acute and chronic lung diseases. The research focuses on the development of the first truly portable, biocompatible, artificial lung capable of short and Joseph Potkay, Ph.D. long term respiratory support.
Dr. Potkay’s recent review paper highlights the promising potential of microfluidic artificial lung technology and describes his and other pioneering work in this burgeoning area of research. The article, titled “The promise of microfluidic artificial lungs”, was published in the August 2014 edition of Lab on a Chip.
“Lung disease is a significant problem for our veterans,” says Dr. Potkay. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) affects approximately 16% of the veteran population. COPD is the fourth most prevalent disease in the VA population and one of the most costly to the VA health care system. In addition, over 500,000 service-connected respiratory disabilities have been diagnosed in veterans and 6.5% of all Gulf War service-connected disabilities are respiratory system related, says Potkay. Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom Veterans have been exposed to chemicals known to cause acute and chronic respiratory conditions including CARC paint and chromium dust. Other veterans have experienced acute lung and failure from blast injury or smoke inhalation.
“This microfluidic artificial lung project has the potential to revolutionize the rehabilitation of veterans suffering from lung disease through the development of a truly portable, biocompatible, artificial lung,” says Dr. Potkay
Microfluidic artificial lungs promise to enable a new class of truly portable, therapeutic artificial lungs through feature sizes and blood channel designs that closely mimic those found in their natural counterpart. On a small-scale, Dr. Potkay has already demonstrated that microfluidic artificial lungs can be far more efficient than conventional artificial lung technologies. This large efficiency will enable new artificial lungs that are a fraction of the size of current devices and that can operate with room air (instead of with the pure oxygen required by current devices).
In the newly awarded merit review project, Dr. Potkay will seek to leverage his previous success to create larger-scale microfluidic artificial lungs with 100X the blood flow capacity of his previous small-scale devices. This project will thus represent a large step toward a human system which could ultimately benefit the many veterans with lung disease.
Dr. Potkay is a lead investigator with the APT Center and a research biomedical engineer at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System. He is also a research assistant professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Case Western Reserve University and an adjunct research investigator in Surgery at the University of Michigan.
About the APT Center: The APT Center is one of 17 designated Centers of Excellence in the Rehabilitation Research and Development (RR&D) Service of the US Department of Veterans Affairs. Established in 2005 as a collaboration between the LSCVAMC and CWRU, the APT Center focuses on applying the most recent advancements in microelectronics, material science, microfabrication, wireless communication and mechanical design to the pressing medical needs of disabled veterans, and translating them into viable clinical options. Investigators, project staff and support specialists associated with the Center concentrate their professional effort on translational research in the areas of: Prosthetics and Orthotics, Health Monitoring and Maintenance, Neural Interfacing, and Emerging Enabling Technologies. Clinician-researchers associated with the Center include some of the “Best Doctors in America” as named by Cleveland Magazine and Best Doctors, Inc. as well as multiple recipients of prestigious Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the NIH Director’s Innovation Award, and VA Career or Senior Career Research Scientist Awards. APT Center related activities have resulted in more than 60 invention disclosures and 15 patented or patent-pending concepts and prototypes that will serve the clinical needs of veterans with sensory, motor and cognitive deficits or limb loss.
