At the heart of UC Irvine, hundreds of innovative technologies flow in and around campus and aim to make their way into Southern California’s arterial innovation ecosystem.
Through UCI Beall Applied Innovation’s Research Translation Group, a team dedicated to facilitating alliances between the university and industry as well as managing university intellectual property, faculty and researchers can submit records of invention, connect with industry or supply the foundations for a startup or company willing to take their dreams to the next level.
Below are a small sample of UCI’s available medical technologies that could provide the next solution to real world problems:
Heart Assist Device for Patients Affecting more than 5 million people every year in the U.S. alone, heart failure affects people of all ages with 1.4 million people under the age of 60 years, according to Emory Healthcare.
The heart assist device is a cardiac assist device that contracts and expands the heart with the help of a pacemaker to restore natural heart pace and blood flow. Unlike ventricular assist devices, this device is external to the heart and does not require modification to the heart or blood vessels.
Laser Photocoagulation Glaucoma is a group of eye conditions that affect the optic nerve and is the leading cause of blindness in people over 60 years, says Mayo Clinic. It affects more than three million Americans and may require minimally invasive glaucoma surgery.
This laser-emitting device treats glaucoma by enlarging and stabilizing collector channels to enhance the aqueous outflow and reduce intraocular pressure. If patients fail a minimally invasive glaucoma surgical procedure, surgeons will often recommend a more invasive surgery.
Photoacoustic Spectroscopy Detection for Asthma and COPD Asthma and COPD are some of the world’s most common respiratory diseases, with COPD causing 3.2 million deaths in 2019, according to the World Health Organization. These diseases are prevalent because of a lack of sufficient medication via inhalers. Young children are particularly affected by asthma as they oftentimes fail or forget to use their inhaler.
Researchers at UCI are developing a medical device that simultaneously detects carbon dioxide, hydrofluoroalkane and nitrogen monoxide in exhaled breath, which gives clinicians an indicator of when and how often a child has been using their inhaler. This device helps physicians monitor the child’s medicine adherence and can guide treatment levels for asthma and COPD.
New Mixture for Epilepsy Treatment More than five million people worldwide are diagnosed with epilepsy every year, according to the World Health Organization.
UCI researchers have isolated components from a plant extract used to treat epilepsy in Africa and discovered that when combined with an existing epilepsy medication, the mixture has the potential to greatly decrease epileptic episodes and significantly prevent life-threatening seizures.
Spinal Dural Repair Device Accidental dural tears can be a complication of spinal surgery and occur when the thin layer covering the spinal cord is nicked by surgical instruments causing cerebrospinal fluid to leak, according to Very Well Health.
UCI researchers have created a device that manages dural tears in a quick, efficient and water-tight method.
Learn more about what drives the heart of UCI’s research and innovation and explore heart-pumping innovations to license.
Graphic: Julie Kennedy
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