Grand Valley Magazine Winter 2014 - (Page 22)

SPECTRUM HEALTH INNOVATIONS' TUBE ORGANIZER In 2011, biomedical engineering graduate students Ryan Bozio and Andy Vander Moren were enrolled in a medical device design class led by John Farris, professor of engineering. They were introduced to a project that had the potential to help thousands of surgical patients. The students worked with Spectrum Health Innovations to design a tube organizer, which can organize and stabilize the tubes of medical and surgical patients. It has the potential to be used in a number of medical settings where there are a number of tubes being used such as kidney dialysis and critical care units. It's also ideal for mobile patients connected to multiple tubes and wires. "Some patients can have multiple tubes hooked to them so a device to secure these tubes was needed to allow these patients to move around easier," Bozio explained. The initial problem was identified by a cardiovascular physician at Spectrum Health who was looking for a practical, secure way to organize medical tubes attached to one of his patients. Throughout the semester, the students met with Mike Miller, director of Intellectual Asset Management for Spectrum Health Innovations, to discuss design concepts. "The original idea was to create something that can help a person do simple tasks such as getting out of a chair or going for a walk, something they otherwise can't do without some type of support," said Miller. Bozio and Vander Moren created numerous prototypes and tested them out on each other. "I sewed the belt portion on my kitchen table, which worked really well, especially for someone who can barely sew on a button," said Vander Moren. They used a 3-D printer at Grand Valley to print plastic tubes and researched the best types of fabrics and materials. When the semester ended, the students presented their final design to Miller and the physicians who would eventually use the device. "We worked with engineering firms on possible designs before coming to Grand Valley," Miller said, "but Andy and Ryan's design knocked it out of the park." Miller said the tube organizer has been fitted on several patients at Spectrum Health. The next stage is to get the device patented so it can be commercially produced and used by patients across the country. MEDICAL IMAGING RESEARCH AT VAI A group of students and faculty has been working with Van Andel Institute to develop new methods to further a growing medical field that aims to improve early detection of cancer and disease. Four Grand Valley students and graduates are working with Anthony Chang, research assistant professor and director of the Small Animal Imaging Facility at Van Andel Institute. Chang said, in the future, if a tumor or lesion is found, a doctor will, with the help of advanced imaging technology, be able to predict early on if it will spread or grow. "The medical imaging field, especially molecular imaging is booming," he said. "It's a new concept, and right now people are starting to realize the power of this technology." A group of graduate students, including Anderson Peck and Chang, helped form the research lab at VAI three years ago. Peck, who was in the first class of the biomedical master's program in 2010, now works at VAI as a full-time researcher. "VAI is the only place in Michigan that's developing these 22 Winter '14 Students gather in a medical imaging lab at Van Andel Institute. They are researching new medical imaging methods, a growing field that aims to improve detection of cancer and disease. new techniques. We have a few new techniques, and hope they'll be used in the future," said Peck. Chang said: "We have a strong presence in the imaging research field, which before, only happened at really big universities. We're putting Grand Valley and Grand Rapids on the map in this field. VAI and our students are helping develop new techniques and concepts that could save lives." Brittany Holly, a biomedical sciences major, Michael Dykstra, a physics major, and biomedical engineering graduate students Priya Balasubramanian and Vineeth Radhakrishnan also work in the research lab. The group presented three years worth of research at the World Molecular Imaging Congress, one of the largest meetings in the medical imaging field, in late September in Savannah, Georgia.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Grand Valley Magazine Winter 2014

Campus News
International Education
Arts
Athletics
Donor Impact
Covenant House provides education, opportunity
Going the extra Medical Mile
Seeds of Promise
Student media: creating community, content and careers
Q&A Bill Holsinger-Robinson
Research
Off the Path
Alumni

Grand Valley Magazine Winter 2014