Project Airway
Team Members: P Singh, S Geissler, S Wang, and R Johnson
Capstone Client: James Hardy, M.D., UCSF Emergency Medicine Specialist
Purpose/Goal:
Cricothyroidotomy is an emergency surgical procedure in which a hole is made through the membrane of the patient’s neck into the windpipe to allow air into the lungs. The current cricothyroidotomy Seldinger technique involves inserting a catheter into a blood vessel or space in the patient’s neck. The team focused on designing a new cricothyroidotomy device that reduces the time required to perform the procedure and minimizes the trauma caused on the patient.
Cartilage Bioreactor
Team Members: Matthew Johnson, Elena Liang, Aron Lau
Capstone Client: Alfred Kuo, MD, Orthopaedic Surgery, UCSF
Purpose/Goal:
More than 40 million Americans (~15% of the overall U.S. population) suffer from arthritis. Human cartilage has limited to no ability to heal itself when it is badly damaged. The capstone team set out to design a bioreactor for chondrocytes (cartilage cells) that replicates some of the conditions experienced by cells in human joints in order to create better, stronger tissues for research and therapeutic use. The design will incorporate methods for controlling hydrostatic pressure
Foreign Body Retrieval Basket
Team Members: Alisa Dong, Atul Urs, Eric Phoumthipphavong
Capstone Client: Dennis Nielson, MD, UCSF Pediatrics
Purpose/Goal:
Current biomedical foreign body retrieval devices often fail after pediatric airway insertion, rendering retrieval and other specifications worthless. The team aimed to develop a foreign body retrieval basket that exhibited the following qualities:
– Deployment of basket
– Capture of all types of foreign body
– Retention of foreign body long enough for expulsion
Cerumen Removal
Team Members: Ye Qiu, Atul Saxena & Eric Stone
Capstone Client: Wilbur Lam, MD, PhD, Pediatric Hematology-Oncology, UCSF
Purpose/Goal:
The cerumen removal process can be completed by a pediatrician/family doctor for an ear infection for pediatric patients. The team set out to design a device that would allow for an accurate diagnosis of an ear infection with minimal infliction of harm because current methods are unsatisfactory.
Newborn Dehydration
Team Members: Chian Gong, Merline Hidayat, Robert Lamorena
Capstone Client: Carol Miller, MD Clinical Professor, Pediatrics, UCSF
Purpose/Goal:
Early diagnosis of dehydration in newborns is difficult., as most methods are applicable to larger body weight individuals. Existing dehydration detectors utilize bioelectrical impedance, ultrasound, or PEAPOD to determine dehydration. The team aimed to create a new device that satisfies the following needs.
– Allows natural breastfeeding patter
– Portability – Painless -Affordability
– Reliability of results
Measure Beat Rate of Cardiac Myocytes in Cell Culture
Team Members: Dana Donnenwirth, Dean Nehama, Dan Rosen
Capstone Client: Wito Richter, Associate Researcher UCSF Department of Gynecology, Obstetrics, and Reproductive Sciences
Purpose/Goal:
Measuring the beat rate of cardiac myocytes in response to various external agents will allow quantitation of the myocyte response to stimuli. Existing measuring methods require excessive time-consuming analysis. The team’s goal was to design an accessible, affordable and timely method for measuring the real-time beat rate of cultured cardiac myocytes.