Advanced Platform Technology Center

2018 News Archive

Fox 8 Cleveland
Volunteers at Cleveland VA Medical Center modify toys for children with disabilities
14 Dec 2018
Toys like Tickle Me Elmo provide joy for millions of children, but some youngsters are unable to play with the popular toys because of disabilities. That’s why a group of talented volunteers at the Cleveland VA Medical Center spent Friday afternoon making alterations to dozens of battery-operated toys. Read more...

Ideastream
Baby Boomers: Would You Trust Your Care To A Robot?
27 Nov 2018
One of the most engaging projects in development is Woody,  a plywood-based social robot. CWRU researcher Kiju Lee and her team are tinkering with Woody to make him into a companion for older adults, someone who could also potentially help out with medication reminders or other things like that. Hear more...

WTOL, Channel 11 in Toledo
Doctor at Ann Arbor VA hospital developing 3-D printed lungs for veterans
21 Nov 2018
Reporter Tyler Paley interviews Dr. Joseph Potkay about his research and development progress toward curing COPD using 3D printed artificial lungs.

THINK: the online magazine for Case Western Reserve University
Distracting Dangers
Fall 2018
Mulcahy and other undergraduates helped with ongoing research in a laboratory run by Xiong (Bill) Yu, PhD, a civil engineering professor who is using the resulting data to develop smart sensors for automobiles to monitor drivers' heart rates, blood pressure, eye movements and other vitals. Read more...

The daily
CWRU, CSU IoT Collaborative awards pilot grants to five research teams
09 Nov 2018
The investigators will use the funds for pilot research that is expected to lead to follow-on funding.
•Ming-Chun Huang (CWRU) and Sunnie Sun Chung (CSU): “Protect Privacy in a Distributed Learning Platform with a Natural Language Processing Example”
•Philip Feng (CWRU), Haodong Wang (CSU) and Mark Griswold (CWRU): “Integrating Wireless Sensors and Data Streams into Virtual Reality of Smart Buildings”

The daily
Senior care meets scientific research
23 Oct 2018
The 2,400-square-foot Smart Living Lab was built by Ohio Living Breckenridge Village to provide its residents a dedicated location for trying out devices and programs developed by Case Western Reserve researchers. The benefits are expected to be intergenerational, organizers said. And the research benefits are expected to be interdisciplinary: While the primary research is being led and coordinated by Kiju Lee... Read more...

COPD News Today
VA Researchers Working on 3D-Printed Artificial Lung for Patients with COPD, Other Pulmonary Diseases
09 Oct 2018
A fully functional 3D-printed artificial lung may someday help people with serious pulmonary illnesses, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). A Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) research team, in collaboration with Old World Labs — a company in Hampton, Virginia, specializing in high-resolution 3D printing — is working to build a prototype of a wearable artificial lung that could be compatible with living tissue and able to provide... Read more...

APT Center announcement
Wearable Sensor Technology for Smoking Cessation
03 Oct 2018
APT Center Investigator Ming-Chun Huang, PhD led the technical aspect at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) of this mobile alert system, which may be the first that combines... Read more...

See VA.gov for transcript of speech
See C-SPAN for video
Statement of the Honorable Robert Wilkie Before the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee
26 Sep 2018
Most inspiring to me have been the many exceptionally competent and caring VA employees I have met who truly live by VA’s core “I CARE” values: Integrity, Commitment, Advocacy, Respect, and Excellence: There’s Dr. Joseph Potkay, a researcher at the University of Michigan who is also a biomedical engineer at the VA in Ann Arbor, and who is working to create a microfluidic artificial lung using a high-resolution 3D printer. If it works, it could revolutionize the treatment of Veterans with lung disease.

VA Office of Research & Development
VA spinal cord injury researcher receives award for top scientific paper
26 Sep 2018
VA researcher Dr. Kelsey Potter-Baker received the Ernest Bors, MD Award for Scientific Development for 2017 from the editors of the Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine. JSCM is the official journal of the Academy of Spinal Cord Injury Professionals. The award is given each year for the best research article published by a young investigator. Read more...

Connecting Vets @ Radio.com
Trouble breathing? In the future VA will print you a new set of lungs!
25 Sep 2018
There you are, walking down the street and it hits you... you can't breathe. Every thought you have is directed to getting your lungs to work, but when you inhale, it's like breathing through a straw. But you don't panic, you just plug into the 3D printed lungs you've been carrying in your fanny pack. Read more...

APT Center announcement
Dr. Umut Gurkan Wins USPTO Honorable Mention in 2018 Patents for Humanity
14 Sep 2018
Biochips to Diagnose Hemoglobin Disorders and Monitor Blood Cells. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently announced the winners of its 2018 Patents for Humanity program, an initiative promoting game-changing innovations to address long-standing development challenges. Read more...
 
APT Center announcement
Dr. Aasef Shaikh Awarded the APDA George C. Cotzias Fellowship
13 Sep 2018
This 3-year, $240,000 fellowship will allow investigation of the influence of the basal ganglia, thalamus, and cerebellum network on discordant visual input induced gait disorder in Parkinson's disease (PD). Read more...

APT Center announcement
Dr. Emily Graczyk, Selected as a DARPA Riser, Presenting to D60 General Assembly Today
07 Sep 2018
Rated in the Top 10 during the poster presentations on Wednesday, Dr. Graczyk was selected to give an oral presentation. Due to the excellence of her work, she and two other Risers were chosen to present to the general assembly of over 1900 attendees at D60 in National Harbor, Maryland today. The title of her talk is Electrical activation of the nervous system to investigate and augment sensory perception. Read more...

APT Center announcement
JSCM names Dr. Potter-Baker winner of Ernest Bors, MD Award
06 Sep 2018
Dr. Potter-Baker is the primary author of the top-scoring article Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) paired with massed practice training to promote adaptive plasticity and motor recovery in chronic incomplete tetraplegia: A pilot study. Read more...

The daily
Engineering’s Umut Gurkan wins 2018 Patents for Humanity Honorable Mention for hemoglobin scanner
05 Sep 2018
“The World Health Organization has recognized that the deaths of children under 5 years of age from sickle cell disease are preventable with early screening and affordable care,” Gurkan said. Read more...

The Scientist
Vibrations Restore Sense of Movement in Prosthetics
01 Sep 2018
Taken for granted by most people, kinesthesia is what allows us to unconsciously grab a coffee mug off a desk or to rapidly catch a falling object before it hits the ground. “It’s how we make such nice, elegant, coordinated movements, but you don’t necessarily think about it when it happens,” explains Paul Marasco... Read more...

EurekAlert!
Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine names Dr. Potter-Baker winner of Ernest Bors, MD Award
29 Aug 2018
This prestigious award acknowledges the best research article by a young investigator published in 2017. JSCM is the peer-reviewed official journal of ASCIP. Kelsey A. Potter-Baker, PhD, is the primary author of the top-scoring article... Read more...

Ideastream
Reducing The Infant Mortality Racial Disparity Gap; Tech To Help Smokers Quit
16 Aug 2018
Start listening at 30:30 to hear Dr. Ming-Chun Huang describe his wearable tech that helps you kick the habit.

APT Center announcement
Cleveland Magazine 2018 Top Doctors List
15 Aug 2018
Congratulations to the APT Center physician-researchers, Clay Kelly, MD and Evi Stavrou, MD, who made the list! Read more...

APT Center announcement
Dr. Ela Plow Awarded $300K from AHA/ASA
13 Aug 2018
This 3-year, $300K project starts this month with a goal to provide a new approach of brain stimulation to improve upper limb functioning in severe stroke patients who show limited functional benefits with the existing approach. Read more...

3D Printing Industry
Veterans Affairs investigates healing potential of 3D printed lungs
13 Aug 2018
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for military healthcare is applying 3D printing to the development of artificial lungs. Though still a very early proof-of-concept project, Dr. Joseph Potkay, a biomedical engineer at the VA Ann Arbor Health Care System, Michigan, hopes that minute, 3D printed chips, could one day be used to used to provide therapeutic support for failing organs. Read more...

3D Print
Veterans Affairs Researchers Developing 3D Printed Artificial Lung to Help Treat COPD
12 Aug 2018
We often see 3D printing used to make a differnece in the lives of our vetarans, whether it's creating customized prosthetic attachments and covers, helping them get back to work, or simply providing a good pair of shoes. Now, scientists at the VA Ann Arbor Health Care System in Michigan... Read more...

The daily
Tech takes on cigarette smoking
06 Aug 2018
Case Western Reserve researchers develop system that senses smoking movements, sends motivational text messages, videos to help users quit smoking. Read more...

APT Center announcement
Prosthetics that Restore Sensation: Taking Technology Outside of the Lab
03 Aug 2018
Using Advanced Technology in the Home. In the first known study of how amputees use advanced sensory-enabled prostheses outside the lab, subjects used a sensory-enabled hand... Read more...

VA Research Currents
Researchers strive to make 3D-printed artificial lung to help Vets with respiratory disease
01 Aug 2018
Dr. Joseph Potkay, a biomedical engineer at the VA Ann Arbor Health Care System in Michigan, is leading the VA-funded research. It calls for making a prototype of the 3D-printed artificial lung. Potkay and his team hope to build what they call the first wearable artificial lung that is compatible with living tissue and is capable of short- and long-term respiratory support. Read more...

The Week
New system may help users quit smoking
01 Aug 2018
Scientists have developed an automatic alert system that may help people quit smoking by sending them motivational text and video messages. Read more...

APT Center announcement
Technology Update: Measuring the Blood's Clotting Ability With ClotChip
31 Jul 2018
Big Advances for ClotChip Technology. Read more...

Now This News
Robot Engineered By Case Western Reserve University To Move Like Robot
21 Jul 2018
This robot moves like a worm. Engineers at Case Western Reserve University created a robot called the Compliant Modular Mesh Worm that moves like a worm by contracting separate sections of its body. Read more...

The daily
CWRU researchers publish first paper on blood-clotting device
20 Jul 2018
A team of researchers from the Case School of Engineering and School of Medicine published the first research paper on their blood-clotting device, ClotChip, in the Journal of Thrombosis and Hemostasis. Read more...

Cleveland.com
Device from Cleveland startup helps people taking blood thinners
16 Jul 2018
Case Western Reserve University innovators have created a blood testing device, about the size of a cellphone, that could improve health care and decrease costs for millions of Americans who take blood thinners. Read more...

APT Center announcement
Dr. Jeffrey Capadona Awarded $962K Merit Review from VA RR&D
16 Jul 2018
This 4-year, $962K project starts this month with a goal to develop antioxidative coating for FDA-approved intracortical microelectrodes, and validate the effects on inflammation and recording performance. Read more...

Tech Ohio
XaTek Inc. raises $9.1 million to advance technology that measures blood’s clotting ability
12 Jul 2018
XaTek Inc., a Cleveland-based biomedical company, recently raised $9.1 million in Series A capital to advance and test the device it’s developing called ClotChip — a portable sensing system that can quickly assess the clotting ability of a person’s blood. Read more...

Consult QD
Bladder Sensor for Diagnosis and Treatment of Urinary Incontinence
12 Jul 2018
A wireless insertable pressure sensor for diagnosis and treatment of urinary incontinence in women has the potential to eliminate the need for urodynamics and the discomfort and inconvenience it entails. Read more...

Crain's Cleveland Business
XaTek Inc. raises $9.1 million to advance technology that measures blood's clotting ability
11 Jul 2018
The Cleveland-based biomedical company raised the money to further advance and test the device, called ClotChip, which was developed by researchers at Case Western Reserve University and is co-owned by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Read more...

The daily
XaTek Inc. raises $9.1 million to advance ClotChip, a hand-held device to quickly gauge blood’s clotting ability
11 Jul 2018
Technology developed by Case Western Reserve researchers; licensed by Technology Transfer Office. Read more...

APT Center announcement
Dr. Steve Majerus Collaborates with Medtronic on New Project
03 Jul 2018
The combination of next-generation implantable stimulators and wireless bladder monitoring devices may support new therapies to treat urinary incontinence in Veterans. Read more...

APT Center announcement
Dr. Ela Plow Awarded $2.5MM from CDMRP SCIRP and Featured in Crain's Cleveland Business
02 Jul 2018
This 4-year, $2.5MM project will be the first multi-site, phase I/II, randomized, controlled, double-blinded clinical trial using noninvasive techniques of transcranial magnetic stimulation and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)... Read more...

Daily Mail UK
Bionic hand gives amputees a sense of TOUCH and allows one man to finally cuddle his granddaughter and a 52-year-old to brush his teeth!
29 Jun 2018
A bionic hand that restores amputees' sense of touch is set to change the lives of thousands who have lost limbs, claim scientists. Two middle-aged men who lost their right hands in horrific accidents at work have revealed how the device has given them back their independence over the last two years. Read more...

The daily
Hands-on improvements
29 Jun 2018
Amputees use new, naturalistic sensory device at home for daily tasks, gain greater sense of personal well-being and connection to loved ones. Read more...

EurekAlert!
New technology enables man to hold his granddaughter again
29 Jun 2018
In the first known study of how amputees use advanced sensory-enabled prostheses outside the lab, subjects used a mechanical hand more regularly and for longer periods of time compared to traditional prostheses--and also reported a greater sense of psychosocial well-being. Read more...

APT Center announcement
Dr. Kelsey Baker Awarded $127K From CDMRP SCIRP
27 Jun 2018
This 1-year, $127,309 project titled Temporary Inactivation of Strong Muscle Sensation to Improve Rehabilitation Interventions in SCI will start in July and proposes to establish if temporarily numbing nonparalyzed muscles... Read more...

APT Center announcement
Dr. Umut Gurkan leads winning team of the Vodafone Americas Foundation Wireless Innovation competition
25 Jun 2018
SMART is an integrated point-of-care technology platform that links with electronic health record systems to diagnose, track and monitor sickle cell disease and malaria patients in low-resource settings. Read more...

The daily
CWRU-led team wins Vodafone Americas Foundation Wireless Innovation competition
11 Jun 2018
Umut Gurkan, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, and his team have won first prize in the Vodafone Americas Foundation Wireless Innovation competition for their remote diagnostic technology SMART (Sickle and Malaria Accurate Remote Testing). Read more...

APT Center announcement
The Journal of Clinical Investigation Features APT Center Researchers
05 Jun 2018
APT Center Investigators, Evi Stavrou, MD and Umut Gurkan, PhD, along with international and national collaborators, were published and featured on the cover of The Journal of Clinical Investigation in March. Read more...

The O&P Edge
Neuroprosthetics and the Making of a Cyborg Olympic Champion
June 2018
This article introduces a body of research originating at the Advanced Platform Technology Center of the Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center (CVAMC) and Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), both in Cleveland, where comprehensive multichannel implanted neural stimulation is being used to enable standing and transfers with minimal reliance on external orthotic support, with applications well beyond these routine daily tasks. Read more...

Channel 16 WNDU
Bionic prosthesis restores sense of touch and movement for amputees
29 May 2018
Paul Marasco of the Cleveland Clinic thought Amanda would be a perfect candidate to try a new type of bionic prosthesis that restores the sense of touch and movement sensation for upper limb amputees. Read more...

APT Center announcement
Dr. Joseph Potkay Awarded Over $400K From NIH
25 May 2018
This 2-year, $428,500 project titled Portable CO2 Servoregulation System for Membrane Lungs started in April and will develop a control system for wearable artificial lung systems aimed at reducing... Read more...

APT Center announcement
Dr. Frank Jacono Awarded $641K From VA BLR&D
23 May 2018
This 4-year, $641,000 project titled Early Diagnosis and Novel Treatment of Sepsis started in April and will study cardio-respiratory uncoupling as a sign of sepsis progression and test if vagal nerve stimulation minimizes the harmful inflammatory response and, therefore, limit sepsis severity. Read more...

APT Center announcement
Drs. Musa Audu and Ronald Triolo Awarded $1.7MM From NIH
21 May 2018
This 4-year, $1.7MM project started in April and will develop new control systems to restore seated function and enhance the postural stability of the trunk for individuals paralyzed by spinal cord injury. Read more...

Crain's Cleveland Business
Cleveland Clinic researcher receives $2.5 million Department of Defense grant
09 May 2018
Plow's preliminary work with stroke patients has shown that, when applied from atop the scalp, the noninvasive techniques of transcranial magnetic stimulation and transcranial direct current stimulation may assist the brain in... Read more...

APT Center announcement
Mr. Jacob Leinenkugal and Mr. John "Wolf" Wagner Visited the APT Center
04 May 2018
White House senior advisor on Veterans Affairs, Mr. Jacob Leinenkugal, and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the VA, Mr. John "Wolf" Wagner, visited the Motion Study Lab of the APT Center and learned about some of the innovative research projects of Dr. Ronald Triolo. Read more...

APT Center announcement
Early Career Investigators Awarded $880K from VA RR&D
03 May 2018
Congratulations to Evon Ereifej, Ph.D. and Andrew Shoffstall, Ph.D. who have received a VA Rehabilitation Research and Development Career Development Awards. Read more...

APT Center announcement
Dr. Kath Bogie Awarded $600K From VA RR&D
02 May 2018
This 3-year, $600K project starts this month to develop, test, and evaluate the next-generation low-cost, high-performance, personalized modular pressure relief seating cushion system... Read more...

APT Center announcement
Inaugural Gordon Research Conference for Neuroelectronic Interfaces Exceeds Expectations
25 Apr 2018
The inaugural Gordon Research Conference (GRC) for Neuroelectronic Interfaces was held March 25-30, 2018 in Galveston, TX and was co-chaired by APT Center Investigator Dr. Jeffrey Capadona and Dr. Ulrich Hofmann from Medical Center – University of Freiburg... Read more...

THINK: the online magazine for Case Western Reserve University
Stimulating Treatment
Spring 2018
Now, a research team is tackling the problem from inside the body by developing a small, flexible device to go under the skin and stimulate the kind of muscle movement critical to warding off these ulcers—commonly called pressure sores—and other complications. The device, called flexSTIM, could "eventually be suitable for virtually all patients with spinal cord injury and others with debilitating medical conditions," said team leader Kath Bogie, DPhil,... Read more...

The daily
Pesky mosquitoes provide neural implant solution
18 Apr 2018
Brain scientists face a dilemma: Conventional wire implants are rigid and can sometimes traumatize that sensitive, vital organ; but softer materials now being tested by researchers, have their own problems—they often bend or buckle and can’t be easily forced into squishy tissue inside the skull. Read more...

THINK: the online magazine for Case Western Reserve University
When Robots Fly
Spring 2018
When Roger Quinn opened his biorobotics lab in 1990 at Case Western Reserve, critics were dismissive: Robots are made of metal, motors and electronics, they said, which are completely different from the muscles, nervous systems and organic materials found in animals. How times have changed. Read more...

APT Center announcement
Dr. Aasef Shaikh Awarded Funding from AAN and DMRF
10 Apr 2018
Congratulations to Aasef Shaikh, MD, PhD for the following two achievements: Read more...

Singularity Hub
New Bionic Arm Blurs Line Between Self and Machine for Wearers
04 Apr 2018
At 29 years old, Canadian firefighter Rob Anderson lost his left arm and left leg to a harrowing helicopter crash into the side of a mountain. Although fitted with “top of the line” prosthetics for the last 10 years, he said, using them feels like “doing things with a long pair of pliers.”

CNET
Prosthetic hands get smart -- and a sense of touch
03 Apr 2018
But that's not their only potential benefit if Dustin Tyler's research pans out. The professor of biomedical engineering at Case Western Reserve University is developing a technique that could trick the brain into thinking sensations are coming from the missing, flesh-and-blood hand. Read more...

APT Center announcement
VA Deputy Secretary Tours Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center Research Programs
30 Mar 2018
On March 23, 2018, the Deputy Secretary of the VA, Mr. Thomas Bowman, toured the Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center and learned more about the innovative research advancements happening in Cleveland. Read more...

APT Center announcement
APT Center Researcher Published a New Method to Restore Natural Sensation in Patients with Prosthetic Arms
15 Mar 2018
A research team led by Paul Marasco, Ph.D., has successfully engineered a sense of complex hand movement in patients with upper limb amputations. Read more...

IEEE Spectrum
Amputees "Feel" the Movement of Their Prosthetic Hands
15 Mar 2018
The name of Paul Marasco’s lab says it all: the Laboratory for Bionic Integration. Here, technology and human biology come together. And the lab’s latest project shows the potential of this approach: Marasco’s team used a vibrating gadget and a neat perceptual illusion to give amputees a natural feeling of their plastic-and-metal arms moving through space. Read more...

Cleveland Clinic Newsroom
Cleveland Clinic Researchers Uncover New Way to Restore Movement Sensation in Patients with Upper Limb Amputations
14 Mar 2018
A team of researchers led by Cleveland Clinic has published first-of-its-kind findings in Science Translational Medicine on a new method of restoring natural movement sensation in patients with prosthetic arms. Led by Paul Marasco, Ph.D., the research team has successfully engineered a sense of complex hand movement in patients with upper limb amputations. Read more...

Nature
The mind-reading devices that can free paralysed muscles
07 Mar 2018
Even in relatively young devices, some areas will have stopped working, says Jeffrey Capadona, a biochemist and materials scientist at Case Western who studies why the arrays fail. To be practical for use in people with a spinal-cord injury, who can live for decades after the initial trauma, the implants would have to last much longer. Read more...

APT Center announcement
APT Center Researcher Awarded VA ShEEP Funding
21 Feb 2018
Congratulations to Matthew Schiefer, PhD who has received a Veterans Affairs Shared Equipment Evaluation Program (ShEEP) grant in the amount of $402,187 for a high‐resolution, micron‐scale computed tomography (microCT) imaging system capable of generating 3D images of internal structures. Read more...

The daily
Living human tracheas
20 Feb 2018
Case Western Reserve University researchers make natural windpipe replacement alternative to synthetic scaffolding now being used. Read more...

EurekAlert!
Living human tracheas
14 Feb 2018
Biomedical engineers at Case Western Reserve University are growing tracheas by coaxing cells to form three distinct tissue types after assembling them into a tube structure-without relying on scaffolding strategies currently being investigated by other groups. Read more...

Crain's Cleveland Business
Cleveland Clinic chosen to take over a Florida hospital
31 Jan 2018
A team of researchers led by a CWRU School of Medicine associate professor has received a three-year, $1.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to develop an implantable muscle stimulator that prevents... Read more....

APT Center announcement
Dr. Kath Bogie Promoted to Associate Professor And Awarded $1.8mm From DoD
17 Jan 2018
Congratulations to Kath Bogie, D.Phil, who has been promoted to the rank of Associate Professor in the Departments of Orthopaedics and Biomedical Engineering at Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Bogie also received a Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program Spinal Cord Injury Research Program (CDMRP SCIRP)... Read more....

American Urological Association
Margot S. Damaser, PhD – Innovator in Regenerative Medicine and Urinary Incontinence
Jan 2018
Dr. Damaser's group, funded by the NIH and the VA, has demonstrated that either mesenchymal stem cells or their secretions alone from culture (the stem cell secretome) can prevent stress incontinence in animal models even if given systemically. Read more...

The daily
Researchers receive Department of Defense grant for implantable muscle stimulator
03 Jan 2018
A team of researchers led by Kath Bogie, a biomedical engineer and associate professor of orthopaedics and biomedical engineering at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, has received a $1.8 million, three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to develop an implantable muscle stimulator for preventing pressure ulcers and deep tissue injuries to the buttocks. Read more...