CHW's IP office navigates the nuanced regulatory processes needed to protect and commercialize new technologies and other inventions. Moving technology to the marketplace requires significant economic and human resource investment. Working in tandem with inventors, innovations developed within CHW, are assessed, evaluated and, if appropriate, legally protected.

Implantable medical devices have been effectively used to deliver therapeutic stimulation to various portions of the human body (e.g., cranial nerves) for treating diseases such as epilepsy and depression. However, optimized neurostimulation technology is still needed. This invention describes methods, systems, and apparatus for applying microburst electrical stimulation of cranial nerves to change the body?s response to certain disorders such as (but not limited to), epilepsy, chronic pain, psychiatric disorders (including depression), eating disorders/obesity, addiction disorders, dementia, sleep disorders, pain and migraine.  The technology is currently being developed with a commercial partner.

This device was designed to minimize or prevent intravenous line occlusion or infiltration for patients with intravenous catheters placed in or near the antecubital fossa (the inside of the elbow joint). It is a single person use device that permits limited mobility to enhance comfort and independence but not enough flexibility to permit vein occlusion or the line to kink. The primary use is likely in hospitals or other medical clinic/emergency care settings.

The Arm Immobilizer is a simple, easy to use, closeable sleeve made of foam, stays and Velcro. Its compressible material makes it both comfortable to the patient and lightweight. With a 'window' or opening over the IV insertion site, it allows the clinician to easily visualize the IV site to check for inflammation, swelling or other adverse signs without removing it. It is intended for adult as well as pediatric use.

Expandable Surgical Retractor
Inventors-Neil Crawford, PhD/Vivek Deshmukh, MD

The Expandable Surgical Retractor was created to support minimally invasive surgical applications and to promote tissue integrity. The length and shape of these retractors vary based on the design of the balloon used to inflate the retractor and/or the composition of the retractor walls but can include cylinders, cones, hourglasses and crescents depending upon the type of surgery and the relevant anatomy.

The advantage of the Expandable Surgical Retractor is that it permits a surgeon to disturb less tissue than in traditional surgical approaches using fixed metal or plastic retractors. The surgeon can make a small skin incision, create a small surgical corridor and then insert the expandable retractor, which can then, after insertion and placement, be expanded to the desired size and shape in order to create a larger surgical window/corridor for visualization of the surgical site. Multiple mechanisms for accomplishing this are possible, one example being thermoplastics, which are pliable when warmed and rigid when cooled. The retractor can be removed by more than one method, including "unzipping" along pre-set perforations or by re-warming the material to collapse it.

Method of Controlling Perceptual Flicker
Inventors-Stephen Macknik, PhD/Susana Martinez-Conde, PhD

Everyone would like to minimize the perception of flickering lights. Drs. Macknik and Martinez-Conde have identified a means of decreasing the perception of flickering in light-emitting devices. Flicker in light-emitting devices occurs due to repeated changes in light intensity (because devices produce artificial light on a discontinuous basis due to changes in the voltage supplied). When these changes are repeated, the flickering appears as a single continuous stimulus or light (flicker fusion). This invention identifies a method allowing flicker fusion, the perception of a single uninterrupted light, to occur below the frequency currently perceptible to the eye and would apply to a number of lighting devices such as fluorescent, electric discharge, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and incandescent bulbs.

Method of Viewing the Brightness of a Subject
Inventors-Stephen Macknik, PhD/Susana Martinez-Conde, PhD

This invention allows subjects to view objects using less power output than currently required without decreasing brightness. Due to a gap in knowledge, scientists have been prevented from identifying and implementing the optimization of stimulus power to perceived brightness.

The rationale of this advancement is that by understanding the temporal dynamics of stimulus duration and brightness perception, a user will understand the parameters necessary to optimize light-source power output for human perception, thereby optimizing power efficiency. This invention is innovativebecause it is the first to correlate the perception of brightness of single flashes of light directly to the underlying neuronal processes in humans and primates.

The Urgent EEG Net (UEN)
Inventor - Brian Alkire

Electronic encephalograms (EEGs) provide critical clinical information but are difficult to administer outside of a controlled, often acute-care setting and requires skilled and specific lead placement. The UEN is an improved, disposable apparatus and method that permits EEGs to be obtained in an urgent-care environment or potentially "in the field" reliably and cost effectively. Its design permits patient preparation and EEG recording that is quicker, easier and more accurate than the currently-used method.

Rather than requiring each electrode to be separately placed onto a person's head, the electrodes/wires are integrated into the UEN, enabling personnel not trained as electro-neuro-diagnostic technologists to administer EEGs to patients. Given the shortage of qualified technologists, and given the frequency that EEGs must be administered quickly, in an emergent/critical setting, this is a key advancement. The UEN is intended to be a single-use device that can be readily integrated into existing EEG systems.

Disposable Sheath for Telemetry Leads
Inventors - Dawn O' Flynn, RN, Faith Overstreet, RN and Craig Orsini

The goal of this invention is to minimize or prevent infections after surgery by creating a disposable covering or sheath for the electrical lead wires used in telemetry systems.

While leads are disposable, the wires they attach to are not, and they drape over the bedding and the skin of the patients to which they are attached. The disposable sheath covers the wires, like a glove over a hand, and is intended to reduce infection by acting as a barrier to germs and bacteria. Provided in rolls, like produce bags from the grocery store, a sheath (or glove) can be detached from the roll and quickly pulled onto the lead wires. The disposable sheath/ glove is a more effective and considerably less expensive way to protect patients than individuals attempting to chemically disinfect multiple lead wires.

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BNI Screen for Higher Cerebral Functions (BNIS)
Creator -George Prigatano, PhD

The BNIS was developed as a screening test for the 1) assessment of cognitive and affective differences after traumatic brain injury (TBI), 2) assessment of outcomes of neurological rehabilitation, and 3) differentiation of patients with complicated and noncomplicated TBI. This test has been translated into several languages, including Swedish, French, German, Spanish, Dutch, Japanese and Chinese.