Live long and prosper: Star Trek-inspired medical devices on agenda at UND

Live long and prosper: Star Trek-inspired medical devices on agenda at UND








University hosts meeting of NSF-established group, whose mission focuses on advancing key biomedical technologies

Live long and prosper: Star Trek-inspired medical devices on agenda at UND
Researchers in the C2SHIP Center gather for a group photo. Contributed image by Lina Bouakkaz.

Chances are you have heard of a “tricorder,” the fictional device found in the television series “Star Trek” used for everything from medical diagnoses to engineering solutions. But did you know that such a device might actually get built?

That idea, and dozens of others aimed at accelerating the development of healthcare technologies for in-place care, were presented and discussed at the fourth annual meeting of the Center to Stream Healthcare In Place (C2SHIP), on Monday Sept. 16, and for the first time held in the Memorial Union.

C2SHIP was established by the National Science Foundation, through its Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers (I/UCRC) consortium. C2SHIP’s goal is to create partnerships between academia and industry to develop health care technologies for in-place care – which means advancing research on devices like the tricorder and others. The aim of in-place care is to develop technology that keeps a patient out of the hospital and in their home, a welcome idea to those who make frequent hospital visits or lack easy access to a healthcare facility.

UND, along with five other leading research universities, is a member of C2SHIP, which works with 21 industrial partners. Kouhyar Tavakolian, executive director of UND’s BioInnovation Zone, or BiZ, is on the group’s leadership team. UND joined C2SHIP last summer, an event which, Tavakolian said, marks the first time in more than 50 years that an I/UCRC site has come to the University.

Going beyond state lines for clinical trials

Being a part of C2SHIP is a significant opportunity for biomedical technology companies in the state, Tavakolian said. Because of that membership, those companies now have access to decentralized clinical trials. For example, a Grand Forks-based company working on a wound care device has access to a significantly larger group of patients for its clinical trials. This speeds the development process along because biomedical engineers don’t have to rely solely on North Dakota’s smaller population.

“If you want to do a study in North Dakota, it can take months or years at times, but you need to be faster in industry,” Tavakolian said. “We don’t have that limitation anymore. Through this collaboration, we can be based here and do clinical trials in other places.”

A reciprocal benefit for other C2SHIP members is UND’s Department of Indigenous Health. Now other academics can avail themselves of research being done in that field, and perhaps even contribute to it.

Yet another benefit to C2SHIP members as a whole is Edgewood Healthcare, headquartered in Grand Forks. The senior living facility is one of the industry partners in the research consortium. With more than 3,700 residents across seven states, all C2SHIP members can accelerate research efforts for long-term care. Wearable devices and ideas produced by the group will improve the quality of life for people in senior living facilities.

“We can do things now that were not possible three years ago,” Tavakolian said, referencing when C2SHIP was founded.

The importance of Monday’s meeting was underscored by Julie Smith-Yliniemi, assistant professor of Indigenous Health, who said she recently learned about a wearable device that can detect ulcers. Early detection of ulcers can lead to a lower incidence of amputation, which, she said, is of particular concern in Tribal Nations, due to insufficient medical infrastructure.

“People suffer at their homes for a long time before they go into the hospital or the emergency room, and by then it’s too late,” she said. “I’m so grateful that UND gets to be part of this important work.”

Smith-Yliniemi was preceded on stage by an opening from the 2023-2024 Detroit Lakes Pow Wow Princess, seventh-grader Kya Smith, who introduced herself in her Ojibwe language and a song by the Young Warriors Drum Group, made up of eighth-grade students from various Indigenous backgrounds. Following their performance, Smith-Yliniemi highlighted that the students’ strong connection to their cultures is a vital protective factor contributing to their overall health and well-being.

David Armstrong, professor of Clinical Surgery at the University of South California, left, and Kouhyar Tavakolian, executive director of UND’s BioInnovation Zone, attend the C2SHIP annual meeting. Photo by Adam Kurtz/UND Today.

Progress in preserving dignity

Taking the stage next was President Andrew Armacost, who said the expansion of biomedical engineering at UND has been essential in supporting research efforts into human and rural health.

Armacost was enthusiastic about UND’s participation in C2SHIP, saying the values of the group align with those of the UND LEADS Strategic Plan.

“Everything that’s going on here represents those core values of our institution,” he said.

Conference members can deepen their connections to one another, and those bonds will yield future, life-improving results, Armacost said.

“May the connections that you develop through your interactions here and throughout the collaboration that’s happening, hopefully over many, many years, be strengthened by events like today, and may you enrich the work that you are doing and the personal relationships you’ll have with everybody in this room,” he said. “I wish you a very successful conference, one where ideas emerge, relationships are built, and progress happens.”

For David Armstrong, a professor of Clinical Surgery at the University of South California, another C2SHIP member institution, the work to advance devices and methods for in-place care is about dignity.

He told the group Indigenous communities around the world face similar problems to those in the United States. Populations everywhere, he said, are getting older, but at the same time, everyone deserves to age gracefully and with dignity and, hopefully, at home.

“The big idea is to maximize the time spent out of hospitals,” Armstrong said of C2SHIPS’s efforts.

On his first visit to North Dakota, Mohan Kumar, program director of the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) at the NSF, thanked Tavakolian and the meeting’s organizers for inviting him. He said the I/UCRC is an excellent program to help the industry be part of research funding. He urged any industry attendees not involved with C2SHIP to take advantage of the program or other NSF programs, as the research generated through them improves lives.

“If you’re here, and if you’re not already a member of C2SHIP or other programs with research, please get involved, support research, because, as you know, it impacts all aspects of life,” he said.

The “Star Trek Tricorder” program was one of several research projects discussed at the conference. Along with Armstrong, Anuradha Godavarty, a researcher at Florida International University (an external collaborator with C2SHIP), are developing a device that can be attached to a smartphone and used to assess the state of diabetic foot ulcers. The researchers are hoping the tricorder can be used to bolster telemedicine efforts for patients with diabetes.

In another presentation, Pantea Tavakolian, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at UND, discussed her work with an industry partner to develop a mattress that reduces the occurrence of pressure injuries. Sometimes called bed sores, these injuries result when people have limited mobility and are unable to change positions.

Along with UND, C2SHIP academic sites include: The University of Arizona, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), the University of Southern California (USC), the University of Missouri and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

conference-goers listen to a presentation
C2SHIP annual meeting attndees listen to a presentation. Photo by Adam Kurtz/UND Today.

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