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Children's Hospital Boston teams win grants to develop novel medical devices
Technologies involve brain imaging for epilepsy, fetal infection monitoring, measurement of intracranial pressure, and seizure prevention
May 7, 2007
Three research teams from Children's Hospital Boston have been awarded grants from CIMIT (the Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology), a nonprofit consortium of Boston area teaching hospitals and engineering schools that provides support to early-stage medical device researchers.

Simon Warfield, PhD, of Children's Department of Radiology, was awarded a grant to develop a system that can more accurately locate brain lesions in patients suffering from epilepsy, helping doctors better prepare for surgery and improve the precision of operations. The brain imaging technology, called Bayesian Source Imaging, will assess data from EEG and MRI machines to detect electrical and structural abnormalities. This is Warfield's third grant from CIMIT since 2001.

Adam Wolfberg, MD, MPH, of Children's Department of Neurology, received funding to develop a non-invasive fetal monitor that uses sensors to record a fetus's heart rate and detects EKG patterns that signal intra-uterine infection. Placed on a mother's abdomen, these sensors will be less obtrusive than traditional monitoring equipment, but more reliable, according to Wolfberg.

Joseph Madsen, MD, of the Department of Neurosurgery, won a grant to develop a device that can non-invasively measure pressure inside the skull (intracranial pressure, or ICP) in patients with conditions such as hydrocephalus, head injury and subarachnoid hemorrhage. Today, surgeons typically gauge ICP by inserting a tube through the skull into a ventricle of the brain. Madsen's technique would avoid surgery; instead, electrodes on the scalp would monitor brainwaves in the presence of a strong magnet to detect changes in ICP. Madsen hopes such a device could be portable, making it a valuable tool for emergency medical technicians or in battlefield situations.

"Researchers from the hospital developed strong proposals," said Donald Ingber, MD, PhD, who serves as a liaison at Children's Hospital Boston for CIMIT. "A key goal of CIMIT's is to develop innovative technology that can help patients. And many of these research projects definitely have the potential to improve health care."

Founded in 1998, CIMIT this year funded 37 projects from a pool of 100 proposals.

Past CIMIT winners from Children's Hospital Boston include: Martha Murray, MD (Orthopedic Surgery), for enhanced arthroscopic repair of knee injuries; Adre du Plessis, MD (Neurology), for a bedside cerebrovascular monitor that identifies premature infants at risk for brain injury; Dario Fauza, MD (Surgery), for optical and software technology in fetal endoscopy; John Mayer, MD (Cardiovascular Surgery), for tissue engineering of pulmonary valves for congenital heart disease; and Frank A. Pigula, MD (Cardiac Surgery), for in utero treatment of congenital heart block.

Contact:
Anna Gonski
617-355-6420
anna.gonski@childrens.harvard.edu

Children's Hospital Boston is home to the world's largest research enterprise based at a pediatric medical center, where its discoveries have benefited both children and adults since 1869. More than 500 scientists, including eight members of the National Academy of Sciences, 11 members of the Institute of Medicine and 10 members of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute comprise Children's research community. Founded as a 20-bed hospital for children, Children's Hospital Boston today is a 347-bed comprehensive center for pediatric and adolescent health care grounded in the values of excellence in patient care and sensitivity to the complex needs and diversity of children and families. Children's also is the primary pediatric teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School. For more information about the hospital and its research visit:
www.childrenhospital.org/newsroom

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Additional Resources
Simon Warfield, PhD, profile
Joseph Madsen, MD, research profile
Joseph Madsen, MD, clinical profile
CIMIT home page
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