Fellows: Alexandra Buscher, Aparna Repaka, and Zack Buono

Description: Left thumb injuries are some of the most commonly reported endoscopy related repetitive strain injuries (RSI) in gastroenterologists. Left thumb activity and force levels required to manipulate the dials on the control section of the colonoscope have been shown to exceed ACGIH HAL-TLV safety limits. Such high physical exposures are associated with repetitive stress injuries such as de Quervain’s tenosynovitis (colonoscopist’s thumb). With increasing demand for colonoscopy procedures and increasing complexity, there is a need to address these occupational injury concerns. Our solution is an “add-on” device which mechanizes the endoscope dial movements thereby reducing the high physical exposures of the left thumb. This can reduce thumb exertion and pain among physicians currently experiencing pain in the short term, and potentially prevent injuries in others in the long term.

Fellows: Beatriz Garcia, Smitta Patel

Description: In the United States, 70-90% of PTSD patients report sleep disturbances. Clinicians are concerned as sleep problems are associated with worsening PTSD symptoms, longer recovery times, and increased risk of suicide. Providers try to avoid these negative outcomes by prescribing in-person therapy and/or medications. However, this approach fails due to medication side effects and because in-person therapy is not widely available. Imagery Rehearsal Therapy (IRT) is an evidence-based treatment for improving sleep disturbances caused by nightmares associated with PTSD. Digital therapeutics have been shown to deliver cognitive based therapy, and we hypothesize that our solution can build on that success to digitize IR. We expect our solution will have similar effects as in-person IRT and reduce nightmare frequency while increasing sleep quality.

Fellows: Alexandra Buscher, Zack Buono, Martha Duffy, and Amos Raymond

Description: Between 60-80% of veterans with chronic pain who have utilized a procedure called Battlefield Acupuncture (BFA), an ear-only type of acupuncture for pain treatment, experience clinically meaningful reduction in pain immediately. Pain relief wanes gradually and subsequent repeated treatment is required. The main failure is these repeated clinic visits which necessitate frequent travel to clinics, lost productivity away from work, and failure to rapidly treat this chronic pain condition. Our device provides an on demand, at-home pain management treatment via in-ear nerve stimulation utilizing BFA concepts.

Fellows: Lola Baird, Mark Drinkwater, Natrina Johnson

Currently in the VA, when a consult is ordered for mental health services, the intake coordinator invests an immense amount of time gathering the necessary information to schedule the Veterans with the most appropriate mental health clinic. This often results in delayed care for veterans, and veterans’ sometimes don't get connected to mental health. The goal of the MH Access project is to develop a clinical decision support tool that will collect relevant information from EHR, referring provider, about the veteran being referred so the intake coordinators can more efficiently triage patients and get Veterans seen for mental health as soon as possible.

Fellows: Mark Drinkwater, Alison, Quinn, Jason Ramirez, and Taylor Wahlig

Low participation in drug disposal results in the accumulation of millions of unused opioid pills in the community, putting people at risk of addiction and adverse events. Our project aims to develop a pill bottle that automatically inactivates unused opioids, reducing the amount of unused opioids available for misuse, abuse, and diversion.

Fellows: Rey Johnson and Lars Lofgren 

We are building a hardware system to automatically detect and document the administration of IV infusion drugs in an emergency department setting. This project has two aims: to decrease the time nurses spend on documentation and to increase patient safety. Nurses today face a high administrative burden of documenting the care they provide, including the medications administered. We hope to save them time by automating part of this process. Additionally, our solution will provide an additional safety layer which can prevent medication errors from occurring.

Fellows: Ravi Rasalingam & Tarsha Ward

Unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are increasing, despite public awareness campaigns. Condom use, shown to be an effective response, is hampered by negative perceptions of decreased pleasure and sexual performance. To increase condom use, the Barrier team focused on behavioral and user experience considerations and is developing a novel condom applicator that facilitates efficient, effective application and penile stimulation during condom placement.

Fellows: Ravi Rasalingam & Tarsha Ward

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a common, chronic health condition that is prevalent and underdiagnosed, lead to daytime fatigue and drowsiness and are associated with serious health consequences such as hypertension, heart failure, motor vehicle accidents and premature death. Current treatments are underutilized because they’re cumbersome and uncomfortable. The OSA team is developing a novel, comfortable solution that will make compliance easier and more effective.ic

Fellow: Ian Butterworth

Staying hydrated is critical for everyone, and it gets harder with age. The consequences of poor hydration are severe and surprisingly common, especially among the elderly. The Hydration team is designing a technology to help the elderly and their caregivers track hydration status, helping to prevent problems and intervene swiftly when necessary.

Fellows: Tracy Bruen, Lars Logren, Samantha B. Miles, Ritu Raman, and Fatima Shazhad

Women who seek treatment from a fertility clinic experience high levels of anxiety and depression and barriers in accessing mental health support, and high physical and psychological burden of treatment. Today, access to mental health support is not always offered in the fertility clinic, and when it is, it can take many weeks to see a counselor. Our solution is a digital health platform that provides mental health care in tandem with physicians to reduce time-to-access mental health care and improve patient satisfaction.