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TRANSLATION BUILDER - January 2022
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This newsletter is designed to provide a place for members of the APTC to share news, collaborate and
network, and discover each other and the services we offer.
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FY21 Annual Report Highlights
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First iSens System is Implanted into a Veteran Research Participant
The iSens system enables those with limb loss to move the prosthesis by thought and provides sensation that feels to the user like the prosthesis is their actual hand. Dr. Dustin Tyler led a team of more than 60 scientists, clinicians, and engineers for the first-ever implant of the iSens system in a Veteran patient at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center in November. The operation resulted in the successful connection of all 96 communication channels between engineered systems and the patient. The subject was able to make different functional movements of their phantom limb and said they could 'feel their pinky finger for the first time in years.'
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Five APTC Investigators/Staff awarded funds through the VHA Innovation Investment Program
Their innovations include:
- A unique slipcover designed to protect wheelchairs from the elements (Stephanie Baily)
- A tablet for a rowing machine with surface stimulation for spinal cord injury (Lisa Lombardo)
- A point of care ultrasound to determine thrombosis risk in hemodialysis (Dr. Steve Majerus)
- An upper extremity assisted bike to improve exercise for Veterans with lower body impairments (William Rasper)
- An ambulatory eye recording device for diagnosing dizziness at home (Dr. Mark Walker)
Technology Transfer Assistance Program to Support VA Inventors
APT Center engineer Stephanie Bailey is leading the Cleveland VA Medical Center's new Technology Transfer Assistance Program (TTAP), funded by the VA Technology Transfer Program. The goal of TTAP is to turn VA inventions from across the country into working, functional prototypes to better prime them for commercialization. The first TTAP project, delivered in 2021, was a shower bench prototype to assist those in wheelchairs with safe transfer into the bathtub.
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APT Center Expands Social Media Outreach and is Highlighted in Local and National News
APT Center researchers and participants have been featured throughout the year in local and national productions and on the APT Center’s YouTube channel. Drs. Hamid Charkhar and Dustin Tyler were both featured on PBS Newshour and Cleveland’s local FOX 8 News for their work in restoring movement and sensation to those with limb loss. Investigators and students have also been regularly featured on YouTube talking about the wide variety of research projects being conducted at the APT Center.
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APT Center Supports Diversity in STEM
Dr. Kath Bogie received a $210,000 supplement from VA ORD to support VA researcher and ORD DEI Research Awardee Dr. Letitia Graves, in her 2-year project to determine how symptom science can be used to help explain, predict, and manage secondary health conditions following SCI.
The APT Center also hosted its most diverse cohort yet of undergraduate summer interns from Case Western Reserve, Saint Louis and Youngstown State Universities. The students focused on projects supporting orthodontics materials research, intercortical microelectrode performance and neurostimulation of sensory nerves, among other projects.
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APT Center Investigators highlighted for research
APT Center investigators have had numerous papers accepted to a variety of STEM and research journals through the last year. Of the many publications, Drs. Steve Majerus and Margot Damaser were awarded the first of the two Best Paper Awards of the Engineering and Urology Society (EUS) for their paper “Safety, Feasibility, and
Accuracy of the UroMonitor: a Catheter-Free, Wireless Ambulatory
Cystometry Device.” Dr. Paul Maoasco's work was featured on the cover of Science Robotics highlighting his development of a neural-machine interface for a bionic prosthetic arm that leverages the sense of touch.
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APT Center Investigator named Distinguished University Professor by Case Western Reserve University
John Lewandowski, PhD, is the Arthur P. Armington Professor of Engineering II in the Case School of Engineering, a professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and director of the Advanced Manufacturing and Mechanical Reliability Center. Dr. Lewandowski has received more than 160 grants, totalling nearly $40 million in research funds, and has worked with some of the leading industries in the field of materials, including Howmet, General Electric, Boeing, Pratt & Whitney, Lincoln-Electric and Timken. Currently, his expanded research efforts include focusing on the relationship between processing, structure, property and performance using advanced manufacturing techniques.
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APT Center Investigators celebrate anniversaries at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center
APT Center Investigators Drs. Margot Damaser (left) and Allison Hess Dunning (right) celebrate their 25 and 10 year anniversaries at VA, respectively.
Dr. Damaser serves as APT Center’s Director of Research and Scientific Affairs. She is also a staff member with the Cleveland Clinic, and a Professor at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU). Damaser has more than 20 years of experience utilizing animal models to investigate female pelvic floor disorders and is considered an internationally recognized expert in the field.
Dr. Hess-Dunning is a Research Investigator with the APT Center and the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center. Her research interests center around developing multi-functional, locally-responsive neural probes for monitoring and improving brain activity and health through electrophysiology, electrochemical measurements, and drug delivery.
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APT Center Summer Intern named YSU 2021 STEM Co-op of the Year
Oluwatumininu (Tumi) Adeeko is a third-year student and a Mechanical Engineering major at Youngstown State University, originally from Nigeria. Tumi was selected as a Wen H. Ko summer intern to work with the Advanced Platform Technology (APT) Center at the Cleveland VA Medical Research and Education Foundation in June 2021.
Her first project, titled the “Mechanical characterization of nitinol wires used in orthodontia,” involved tensile and fatigue testing, failure analysis, and mechanical characterization of different grades of shape memory alloys used in making dental arch wires. Her work provided additional data for an ongoing study into the same topic and will be crucial in helping clinicians determine the appropriate materials to use for different stages of orthodontal treatment.
The APT Center regularly highlights Investigators and staff on YouTube talking about the wide variety of research projects being conducted at the Center. Please take a moment to watch and like these videos, subscribe to the APT Center's page and turn on notifications to stay updated on the Center's news and developments.
Some highlights include:
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The Advanced Platform Technology (APT) Center is a Department of Veterans Affairs Research Center in the Rehabilitation Research and Development Service. The Center addresses the pressing clinical needs of disabled Veterans by harnessing the most recent developments in untapped engineering and basic science disciplines and applying them to design and disseminate new rehabilitation interventions.
Learn more about the APT Center and the Cleveland VA Medical Center by visiting our websites and please subscribe to the APT Center YouTube channel to stay updated on our research.
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