2024
Global Health Innovations
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THE TEAM
Student Team: Sandhya Tiku, Abhiram Cherukupalli, Roanne Yehia, Oriol Cuxart
Advisors: Dr. Nicholas Rowan, Dr. Andrew Thamboo, Dr. Gene Fridman, Dr. April Zambelli-Weiner, Dr. Anders Sideris, Mitchell Turley, Linh Le
ABSTRACT
Chronic Rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a condition that lasts at least 12 weeks in duration and refers to inflammation of the sinuses as well as that of the nasal passages. There are many symptoms associated with CRS, including: Facial pressure/pain, nasal obstruction, post-nasal drip and anosmia (lack of smell).
CRS has both an inflammatory mediated component as well as a dysregulation of the autonomic nervous system within the sinonasal cavity. The current treatment for CRS is nasal steroids in the form of nasal rinses/sprays. These are extremely uncomfortable and inefficient with high failure rates in treatment. These treatments ignore the contribution of the nervous system in the disease process. In the setting of CRS, the mucous glands of the sinonasal cavity receive an overstimulation, disrupting the neural balance within the nasal cavity and leading to increased volume of mucous production. This increased volume of mucous then continues to propagate this inflammatory cascade and worsen patient symptoms and obstructs breathing.
SinuStim is a novel neurostimulation platform that stimulates these nasal nerves through a novel methodology to decrease mucous production, nasal tissue size and allow patients to breathe easily for the very first time. Our device is in the shape of a mouthguard and is as easy to use as an Invisalign retainer. The SinuStim solution sets a new standard for novel approaches to medical management of CRS and drastically improving the quality of life of these patients.
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THE TEAM
Student Team: Lhotse Thompson, Amina Ishrat, Sorush Rokui, Luke Boyce
Advisors: Dr. Youseph Yazdi, Dr. Soumyadipta Acharya, Dr. April Zambelli-Weiner
ABSTRACT
Mitral regurgitation (MR) affects over 5 million people in the US and describes backflow between the mitral valve, one of the four main heart valves. Severe MR is treated by open heart mitral valve repair. In order to guide the exact operative intervention, surgeons perform intraoperative valvular assessment using a bulb syringe, which allows pressurization of the left ventricle and mitral valve. Shortcomings of this method include imprecision of pressure and volume, limited time to assess the valve, and occupation of the surgeon’s hand(s). The Salmon Cardiac Cannula aims to improve the quality of open mitral valve repair surgery by making intraoperative valvular assessment more accurate and reliable.
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THE TEAM
Student Team: Aryaman Shodhan, Noah Lu, Azmina Karukappadath, Gabriella Wong
Advisors: Dr. Youseph Yazdi, Dr. Soumyadipta Acharya, Dr. Ashish Nimgaonkar, Dr. April Zambelli-Weiner, Michelle Zwernemann, Dr. Amir Manbachi, Dr. Ali Uneri, Antony Fuleihan
ABSTRACT
Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) is a serious medical condition where the aorta enlarges abnormally, leading to significant health risks. In the U.S., AAA results in over 1.5 million new diagnoses and 30,000 deaths annually, with healthcare costs exceeding $9 billion. The condition often remains asymptomatic until rupture, which has a mortality rate over 85%. The primary treatment for AAA is Endovascular Aneurysm Repair (EVAR), a minimally invasive procedure performed in over 80% of cases. EVAR involves inserting an endograft to shield the arterial walls from blood pressure. However, around 25% of the 120,000 annual EVAR procedures encounter type II endoleak, a complication where blood flows back into the aneurysm sac, posing a risk of rupture. Reinterventions for type II endoleak have a high failure rate, with 60% not achieving permanent resolution due to challenges like incomplete vessel embolization and migration of embolic materials, resulting in repeated procedures and significant risk of rupture.
The economic burden of managing type II endoleak is substantial, with annual costs exceeding $500 million in the U.S. alone. Each reintervention costs over $22,000, and patients often require multiple procedures, potentially leading to total costs exceeding $100,000 per patient. This does not account for additional expenses related to surveillance imaging, decreased quality of life, and fatalities from untreated aneurysm ruptures. EndoGuard offers an innovative solution by integrating a Doppler Ultrasound (DUS) transducer for real-time imaging with a High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (FUS) transducer for vessel occlusion. This allows precise targeting and coagulation of collateral vessels without damaging surrounding tissue, eliminating the need for incisions, catheter navigation, or radiation exposure. EndoGuard significantly reduces reintervention times and medical resource utilization while improving patient outcomes and lowering costs.
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THE TEAM
Student Team: Fujia Zheng, Shirley Lin, Sainkhuu Enkh-Otgo, Rida Amjed
Advisors: Dr. Youseph Yazdi, Dr. Soumyadipta Acharya, Dr. April Zambelli-Weiner
ABSTRACT
Diabetes is a pervasive yet often underestimated health condition, affecting 38 million individuals in the United States alone, constituting 11% of the population, with an additional 115 million at risk due to prediabetes. Among different complications of diabetes, one particularly alarming comorbidity is diabetic neuropathy, characterized by the gradual loss of sensation in the feet. This numbness not only compromises patients’ ability to perceive pain but also alters their gait, setting the stage for the development of foot ulcers. A callus can rapidly progress to a severe ulcer, jeopardizing the affected individual’s mobility and quality of life. Diabetic foot care also costs the US healthcare system 13 billion dollars every year. Tragically, up to half of diabetic patients with foot ulcers will ultimately face lower limb amputation, underscoring the urgent need for prevention of diabetic foot ulcers.
ReNuNerve is an innovative wearable gait retraining device to prevent ulcer formation. Tens of literature has shown that high peak plantar pressure is one of the leading causes of callus and ulcer formation, our device can timely alert patients of high plantar area on their feet through sensory feedback on their knee. Our device can achieve a preliminary 40% of pressure reduction under patients’ feet as proven by our study.
U.S. Healthcare Innovations
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THE TEAM
Student Team: Sandhya Tiku, Abhiram Cherukupalli, Roanne Yehia, Oriol Cuxart
Advisors: Dr. Neha Verma, Dr. Soumyadipta Acharya, Dr. E. Venkata Ramana, Amal Alam
ABSTRACT
The integration of telemedicine into low middle income countries has dramatically improved the healthcare access gap for rural patients. Current efforts in telemedicine platforms have successfully task-shifted patient medical history collection to Frontline Health Workers (FHW) and brought millions of patients access to diagnoses and treatments from highly trained remote physicians. Intelehealth is one of these companies that has successfully leveraged FHW in rural villages to address this health inequity through telemedicine. However, limitations with this technology include short doctor-patient consultations, inefficient processes for patient information collection, and inaccurate patient diagnoses. With the advent of Large Language Models (LLM), the potential to close these gaps utilizing current platforms has become possible.
Ayu AI is an LLM AI physician co-pilot that was developed in collaboration with Intelehealth to address the issue of diagnostic/treatment inaccuracy and short doctor-patient consultations. The use of our co-pilot drives increased diagnostic accuracy, prompts accredited treatment guidelines for telemedicine doctors to improve the quality of care for patients in rural India. Our progress over the year has culminated in a working prototype including the associated User Interface for the telemedicine doctors within the Intelehealth ecosystem.
This project is aimed to continue into the next year with the goal of achieving usability data to validate the technological process to date and continue further iteration based on the collected data. The goal is to achieve a deployable AI physician co-pilot with high diagnostic and treatment accuracy by May 2025.
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THE TEAM
Student Team: Lhotse Thompson, Amina Ishrat, Sorush Rokui, Luke Boyce
Advisors: Dr. Kunal Parikh, Dr. Youseph Yazdi, Dr. Soumyadipta Acharya, Dr. April Zambelli-Weiner
ABSTRACT
ViscoCure’s mission is to prevent avoidable, irreversible blindness. Glaucoma describes progressive vision loss due predominantly to elevated pressure in the front of the eye. Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness worldwide, projected to represent over 110 million individuals by 2040 with an estimated market valuation of 5.8 billion USD. Glaucoma is an incurable chronic disease, and treatments aim to reduce pressure in the eye in order to prevent vision loss. ViscoCure aims to provide efficacious, cost-effective treatment for glaucoma patients. Ultimately, ViscoCure addresses the shortcoming of competing procedures and reduces the reliance on strict compliance with eye drop medication, a key pitfall of glaucoma management. Our method effectively drops intraocular pressure in a method that preserves the natural anatomy of the eye, is cost effective, minimally invasive, and a longer-term treatment irrespective of eye pigmentation.
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THE TEAM
Student Team: Aryaman Shodhan, Noah Lu, Azmina Karukappadath, Gabriella Wong
Advisors: Dr. Youseph Yazdi, Dr. Soumya Acharya, Dr. Tigistu Adamu Ashengo, Dr. Harshad Sanghvi, Dr. Khalil Merali, Dr. Anders Sideris
ABSTRACT
In the domain of surgical care, laparoscopic surgery represents a paradigm shift with substantial benefits over traditional open surgery, including reduced patient recovery times, decreased risk of infection, and less post-operative pain. However, the adoption of laparoscopic techniques in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) has been hindered by significant barriers such as high equipment costs, lack of training facilities, and a scarcity of trained personnel. This gap significantly affects patient outcomes and healthcare efficiency in these regions. To address these limitations, we developed the ARISE (Accelerated, Realistic, Intelligent Simulation for Surgical Education) system, a novel, cost-effective training platform designed to simulate laparoscopic surgical procedures. ARISE combines a physical box trainer with a complementary mobile application, LaparoscopiX, that offers asynchronous feedback from a global network of laparoscopic experts. This integration facilitates a robust mentorship model and allows for high-frequency, low-dose training regimes that are adaptable to the learner’s pace and environment.
A comprehensive summative usability study of the ARISE system was conducted in Kenya with 32 surgical residents from four training hospitals. Through a series of both fundamental and advanced tasks, participants interacted with the system and subsequently assessed its usability using a System Usability Scale (SUS). The results showed a promising average SUS score of 84.0, highlighting the system’s ease of use and educational potential. It offers a scalable, replicable model that leverages modern technology and global expertise to foster skill development and potentially elevate the standard of surgical care in underserved regions.
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THE TEAM
Student Team: Fujia Zheng, Shirley Lin, Sainkhuu Enkh-Otgo, Rida Amjed
Advisors: Dr. Youseph Yazdi, Dr. Soumyadipta Acharya, Dr. Susan Harvey, Samson Jarso, Dr. Sara Sukumar
ABSTRACT
Breast Cancer is the second most common and second leading cause of death for women in Sub-Saharan Africa. 6 out of 10 women die from breast cancer within 5 years of diagnosis. For women presenting a lump in their breasts, they often need to travel on average 200 km to the closest healthcare system, facing huge time and cost commitment. Even for women who make it to the healthcare centers face challenges, centers will use Fine Needle Aspiration to collect cellular samples from the lump. While cost-effective and minimally invasive, the results differ from practitioner to practitioner. An inadequate fine needle aspiration requires resampling. The inadequacy rate at rural area can go up to 80% where 77% of the population reside.
YieldEASE is an innovative biopsy accessory that can increase the accuracy of Fine Needle Aspiration in one single pass. By increasing the success rate of the first procedure, we decrease the cost for the healthcare system and the patients due to delayed diagnosis and treatment.
