Click here to receive your FREE subscription to Campus Technology
News
U Colorado and Quest Get $1 Million Grant for New Digitally Controlled Endoscopes
8/14/2008
|
|
Surgeons will guide this ultra-slim 3mm (1/8-inch) diameter scope via a joystick-like control and can reach previously inaccessible spaces to visualize and diagnose problems. Specialized tools fit through the scope for therapeutic and surgical procedures.
"We're excited about the potential of this technology to access small areas of the anatomy," said Dr. Dale Lawrence, UC professor and inventor of the technology.
MicroFlex endoscopes may provide easier out-patient surgery for patients suffering from chronic sinusitis. The sinus application, the first of many potential uses of this technology, was selected due to the prevalence of chronic sinusitis, which affects 33 million Americans, and the challenge of surgery and treatment in these difficult anatomical structures.
Development is being done by Lawrence's research group at CU Boulder, physicians at the Health Sciences Center in Denver, and an engineering team from Quest Product Development. A second NIH grant funded research demonstrating that MicroFlex devices can be fabricated as small as 1mm (0.04") diameter, which will allow access deep into areas of the lungs not currently possible, for diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer. Ultimately, MicroFlex technology may provide a useful tool for diagnostic and surgical care for a variety of medical uses including ear-nose-throat, lung, neurosurgery, neonatal, and cardiac applications.
Quest Product Development, a specialized engineering and product development company focusing on medical products and Colorado bioscience, teams with universities and companies to develop new technologies.
Dian Schaffhauser is a writer who covers technology and business. Send your higher education technology news to her at dian@dischaffhauser.com.
Cite this Site
copy text (above) for proper citation
Recommended Reading
- Georgia Tech Helps Develop Web-based Tool To Improve Blood Supply
The Georgia Tech College of Computing, working in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has developed a Web-based tool for tracking blood safety. The program is expected to help developing countries improve the adequacy and safety of their national blood supplies through better monitoring and evaluation.
- Mississippi State Implements Reflex Virtual Management Center
Mississippi State University has implemented Reflex VMC (Virtual Management Center) from Reflex Systems. The application allows IT administrators to monitor a virtual infrastructure and enforce business and IT policies.
- Stanford Law School Launches IP Litigation Clearinghouse
The Law, Science & Technology Program at Stanford Law School has launched the Intellectual Property Litigation Clearinghouse (IPLC), an online database that offers comprehensive information about intellectual property (IP) disputes within the United States.
- Texas A&M Health Science Center Adopts Banner Administrative Management
The Texas A&M Health Science Center has selected the Banner Unified Digital Campus (UDC) from Sungard Higher Education to help unify its geographically-dispersed community and to enhance and expand services and communications to its growing student enrollment.
- NCCC: Data Cleansing Key To Managing Growth
Community colleges are in a good spot in some ways during the economic downturn, as tight family budgets drive up the appeal of the community college option. But along with the rest of higher education, most community colleges also face shrinking IT budgets and tighter resources. That makes it that much harder to handle the growing enrollment numbers that some community colleges are seeing.
- Finjan: Layoffs Could Drive IT People To Become Cyber-Criminals
Security vendor Finjan predicts that the current economic downturn could herald a sharp rise in cybercrime during 2009--driven by the rise in the number of IT people being laid off. According to a report from the company's Malicious Code Research Center (MCRC), more unemployed IT personnel will be tempted to seek "new and easy income by purchasing and using crimeware toolkits that are sold by professional hackers."
