The microsurgery assistant workstation developed by researchers at Johns Hopkins and Carnegie Mellon enables surgeons to view a 3D image of the patient’s eye while using “smart” surgical tools, consisting of sensors, surgical instruments, and robotic devices while operating on eye tissue. The workstation improves ophthalmologists’ ability to perform delicate eye tissue surgery, and reduces fatigue and hand tremors while enhancing precision.

Dr. Christine Kelley, NIBIB Division of Discovery Science and Technology Division Director, uses the microsurgery workstation from Johns Hopkins and Carnegie Mellon to learn about retinal surgery improvements. The workstation reduces the impact of human limitations in image and information processing during surgery and enbales new therapeutic approaches.

The Georgia Institute of Technology, Emory University School of Medicine, Emory University Hope Clinic, and the PATH research team is assessing the safety and effectiveness of a self-administered microneedle patch for influenza vaccination that will culminate in a Phase I clinical trial.

A Carnegie Mellon research team member demonstrates the microsurgery workstation for retinal surgery.

Micron-scale needles administer vaccines, therapeutics and other materials through the skin, potentially allowing lower doses, longer-lasting immune responses, and painlessly administer vaccines.

Mayo Clinic’s Magnetic Resonance Elastography (MRE) is a new imaging technology that uses low-frequency mechanical vibrations to assess tissue stiffness and to non-invasively diagnose liver fibrosis. MRE is safer, more comfortable, less expensive, and more accurate than a biopsy.

Dynamic imaging of brain activity by the research team at the University of Minnesota and Mayo Clinic measures electrical signals within the brain and identifies brain areas where epileptic seizures are generated. This non-invasive method would replace the need for open-skull monitoring in order to determine which brain areas are affected in epilepsy.

The noninvasive brain imaging technology by the University of Minnesota and Mayo Clinic research team is also being applied to understanding fundamental brain processes and is providing insight into attention and perception.

The research team at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital have developed a microfluidic device called the CTC-Chip that identifies circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in peripheral blood for the early detection, characterization, and monitoring of cancers without invasive biopsies.

Mehmet Toner of Harvard Medical School explains the microfluidic chip, or “liquid biopsy” that has the potential to transform cancer patient care, providing early molecular diagnosis of epithelial cancers.

Dr. Grace Peng (on left), NIBIB Program Director, with Dr. Carla Pugh, an NIBIB-funded researcher and Presidential Early Career Award (PECASE) recipient and speaker at the NIBIB Scientific Symposium.

Dr. Carla Pugh’s research team at Northwestern University is developing a silicone breast model that measures the pressure a health practitioner uses to find breast tissue abnormalities. This model will be used for training physicians to improve their screening skills.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapy involves implanting a “brain pacemaker “to send electrical impulses to certain parts of the brain. This complex surgery, usually used to relieve severe symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, involves three phases. Vanderbilt University’s research team has developed a suite of software that allows surgeons to centralize the DBS data and visualize pre-operative, intra-operative, and post-operative programming of DBS surgery.

The Vscan is a handheld ultrasound scanner with color-flow Doppler that can quickly identify blood flow or heart problems.

The palm-sized ultrasound scanner, called the Vscan, can be used at the bedside, in an ambulance, or in low resource settings and is currently being sold in over 100 countries.

Key members of the spinal cord stimulation research effort include from left to right: Dr. V. Reggie Edgerton, UCLA spinal stimulation principal investigator; Robert Summers, spinal cord injury patient; and Dr. Susan Harkema, Rehabilitation Research Director at the Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center at the University of Louisville.

Robert Bazell, Chief Science and Health Correspondent at NBC News, was the keynote speaker at the NIBIB 10th Anniversary dinner.

Dr. Roderic Pettigrew, NIBIB Director, recognizes Dr. C. Douglas Maynard for his visionary leadership and critical role in the establishment of the Institute at the Anniversary dinner.

Dr. Phillip A. Sharp, Nobel Laureate, Physiology or Medicine Institute Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, discusses the Convergence of the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences at the NIBIB Scientific Symposium.

Dr. Roger Y. Tsien, Nobel Laureate, Chemistry, Investigator and Professor University of California, presented Improving Surgery Through Target-specific Molecular Imaging at the NIBIB Scientific Symposium.