Advanced Platform Technology Center
APT Center Researcher Receives Award To Evaluate Vascular Access Techniques
Research could improve quality of care for patients on dialysis
A research team led by Steve Majerus, Ph.D., a researcher with the Advanced Platform Technology (APT) Center of Excellence at the Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center (LSCVAMC) and with Case Western Reserve University won a $90,000 research award from VA Rehabilitation Research and Development Program. The award will fund a two-year research program entitled, “Real-time monitoring device for vascular signals.”
Dr. Majerus’ team intends to investigate new techniques to rapidly screen vascular access patency in hemodialysis patients. The VA cares for more than 35,000 veterans with kidney failure -- and this number is increasing due to a clinical trend of providing dialysis therapy over prolonged patient lifespans. Long-term dialysis success and cost is dependent on the proper health of the patient’s vascular access.
“Recent findings have demonstrated the feasibility of non-invasively determining vascular access patency,” says Dr. Majerus. “These methods could enable high-frequency, low-cost screening of patients in their homes or during regular dialysis sessions.”
Enabling new vascular access screening methods would enhance the quality of care for veterans on chronic dialysis and could reduce the financial impact of regular access surveillance on the VHA.
Dr. Majerus’ research will include clinical experiments to evaluate new approaches for non-invasive screening of hemodialysis vascular access patency. This research will help to answer hypotheses regarding the reproducibility and feasibility of non-invasive monitoring methods, and to demonstrate innovative technology to enable clinical application.
Dr. Majerus received his PhD in electrical engineering and computer science from Case Western Reserve University. He is currently an active researcher at the APT Center, where he created a wireless, implantable bladder pressure sensor. Dr. Majerus has also worked extensively designing custom high-temperature integrated circuits for distributed aeronautic engine controls.
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 LSCDVAMC 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. For additional information about the APT Center, please follow the link: http://www.aptcenter.research.va.gov/
