Bottom
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6: Number of provisional patents filed by Hopkins
biomedical engineering undergraduates since 2002.
Hopkins' Whitaker
Biomedical Engineering Institute still considers its
mission to be basic science. But its undergraduates, in
growing numbers, are eager to pursue applications of that
science. They're developing products and filing patents.
Aditya Polasani, the institute's industrial liaison
associate, says, "Previously, our students had two options
— go to med school or go to grad school. Now more
students are planning to move toward industry."
For example: When Seth Townsend, Richard Boyer, Chris
Komanski, and Nathan Tedford were undergraduates, they
collaborated on a non-invasive device that, through
automated urinalysis, can detect acute renal failure 24-48
hours ahead of current methods, permitting earlier
treatment and saving both hospital costs and lives. The
students qualified as one of seven finalists in MIT's
prestigious $50K Entrepreneurship Competition, and have
incorporated a new company.
Undergraduates Kenny Hwee Seong Ching, Gillian Hoe, Elbert
Hu, Melanie Ruffner, Somponnat Sampattavanich, and Ashkon
Shaahinfar hold a provisional patent for a device that
measures electrical impedance in a woman's cervix, to
provide early detection of preterm labor. Other student
teams have filed patents for a birthing simulator, a
wireless device that measures muscle force, a two-axis
bioreactor for tissue engineering, and an oral cancer
simulator.
"Biomedical engineering is going to go more and more in the
direction of applicable devices," says Whitaker Director
Murray B. Sachs. "We don't want to skew the department in
any way that will damage what I consider its soul, which is
basic research. But I think with care this
[entrepreneurialism] can be carried out in a manner
profitable intellectually and worthwhile for humanity."
— Dale Keiger