'Lab on a Tube' Monitoring Device

The need for improved monitoring of neurotrauma patients has resulted in the development of a prototype of a novel, multitasking "lab on a tube" at the University of Cincinnati (UC).

UC engineers, working to fill a need expressed by physicians at the Neurotrauma Center at the UC Neuroscience Institute, have developed a preliminary working model of the multimodal tube, or "smart sensor," which is capable of continuously monitoring multiple physiological parameters in patients. The tube also is capable of draining excess cerebrospinal fluid from the injured brain and could be used to deliver medications to the patient.

Eventhough the monitoring device is still not ready for testing in humans, UC scientists hailed it as "a groundbreaking start".

Raj Narayan, MD, chairman and Frank Mayfield professor in the department of neurosurgery and the project's principal investigator, and Lori Shutter, MD, director of neurocritical care, expressed the need for a multimodality monitoring device for neurotrauma patients and participated in its design and creation.

The prototype for a smart neuro-catheter was then engineered by Chunyan Li, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the UC department of neurosurgery who trained under Chong Ahn, PhD, professor in the department of electrical and computer engineering. Concepts for a "lab on a tube" device with multimodality sensors were developed in the Microsystems and BioMEMS Laboratory headed by Ahn.........