The technology also introduces a reactive co-curing additive synthesized by reacting 3-isocyanatopropyltrimethoxysilane with NADES, chemically anchoring the additive into the coating network. This approach improves additive retention, long-term durability, and mechanical stability while maintaining strong ice-shedding performance. Surface and mechanical analyses demonstrated that incorporation of NADES and co-curing additives reduced glass transition temperature, increased flexibility, enhanced abrasion resistance, and preserved coating hardness.

Experimental studies showed that the coatings maintained ice-shedding functionality over multiple icing/deicing cycles while exhibiting low interfacial toughness values. The microstructured domains within the coating create localized weak points that aid crack propagation under ice-loading conditions without compromising structural integrity. In addition, the coatings demonstrated lower abrasion-related mass loss than unmodified PU coatings, making them suitable for harsh outdoor environments.

The technology is particularly attractive for large-scale infrastructure applications because it combines environmentally friendly additives, scalable coating processes, and strong mechanical durability with passive anti-icing functionality.

Benefits

• Enhanced passive ice-shedding capability
• Improved abrasion resistance and durability
• Reduced interfacial ice adhesion
• Environmentally friendly additive chemistry using NADES
• Scalable moisture-curable coating formulation
• Maintains mechanical hardness while improving flexibility
• Effective over repeated icing/deicing cycles
• Potentially lower maintenance and energy costs for de-icing operations

Applications

• Aircraft and aerospace surfaces
• Wind turbine blades
• Power transmission infrastructure
• Rail and transportation systems
• Marine vessels and offshore platforms
• Refrigeration and HVAC systems
• Telecommunications towers
• Bridges and exposed structural surfaces

Patents

This technology is patent pending in the US and is available for licensing/partnering opportunities.

The composite architecture enables precise tuning of material properties depending on the ratio and type of fillers used. Alumina-rich formulations significantly enhance piezoelectric response, dielectric constant, thermal conductivity, and radiation attenuation compared to neat PVDF. SpectrAl® 81-based systems exhibit particularly strong dielectric polarization and radiation-shielding behavior, while SpectrAl® 51 formulations demonstrate improved electrical insulation and thermal-management performance. Ground tire rubber acts as a functional tuning component that modifies flexibility, damping behavior, and interfacial polarization effects.

The films demonstrate strong potential for flexible sensors, capacitive devices, thermal-management coatings, dielectric layers, lightweight shielding systems, and energy-harvesting applications. Certain compositions exhibit elevated electrical output under mechanical stimulation, enabling self-powered sensing capabilities, while others provide enhanced thermal conductivity and insulation performance desirable for electronics and battery systems. The integration of recycled GTR additionally supports sustainability goals by incorporating reclaimed elastomeric material into high-value advanced composites.

Benefits

• Multifunctional performance combining dielectric, thermal, piezoelectric, and shielding properties
• Flexible and lightweight polymer-film architecture
• Tunable electrical and mechanical behavior through filler composition control
• Enhanced thermal conductivity compared to conventional PVDF films
• Improved radiation attenuation capabilities in alumina-rich systems
• Potential for self-powered sensing and energy-harvesting applications
• Incorporation of recycled tire rubber supports sustainability initiatives
• Scalable solution-casting fabrication process

Applications

• Flexible pressure and vibration sensors
• Self-powered wearable electronics
• Capacitive sensing layers
• High-k dielectric films
• Battery and electronics insulation layers
• Thermal-management coatings
• Radiation-shielding films and liners
• Smart packaging and protective electronics covers
• Energy-harvesting materials
• Flexible electronic substrates

Patents

This technology is patent pending in the US and is available for licensing/partnering opportunities.

A precision cardiac gene‑regulation platform that deletes a MYH7 enhancer to shift ventricular myosin isoform balance toward faster α‑MHC and activates upstream MYH6 enhancers to increase MYH6 expression and improve contractility, creating a dual toolkit for disease‑modifying therapy in cardiomyopathy and heart failure.

• Elizabeth McNally*
  • Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Department of Cardiology
• Anthony Gacita

NU Tech ID: NU 2020-154, NU 2022-044

IP STATUS

Multiple US (18/265,135; 18/880,416) and OUS patents (21901505.4) pending

DEVELOPMENT STAGE

TRL-3 Experimental Proof-of-Concept: Initial in vitro studies confirm effective modulation of gene expression in cardiac cells.

BACKGROUND
Cardiomyopathies, especially dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), are major causes of heart failure, arrhythmias, and sudden cardiac death, accounting for substantial morbidity, mortality, and transplant/LVAD utilization across all ages. More than 100 genes, including sarcomeric myosin heavy chain genes MYH7 and MYH6, and nuclear‑envelope genes such as LMNA, are now recognized as drivers of inherited cardiomyopathies with age‑dependent penetrance and highly variable clinical expression. Current management relies on guideline‑directed medical therapy (ACEI/ARB/ARNI, beta‑blockers, MRAs, SGLT2 inhibitors), device therapy (ICD/CRT), and, for end‑stage disease, transplant or LVAD. While these approaches improve symptoms and survival, they do not correct disease‑causing imbalances in gene expression such as the maladaptive shift toward higher MYH7 and lower MYH6 seen in advanced heart failure. Emerging myosin modulators (e.g., cardiac myosin inhibitors and activators) and early gene‑editing approaches show that directly targeting myosin function or correcting pathogenic MYH7 variants can reverse disease in preclinical models, but there are no approved therapies that durably re‑program ventricular MYH6/MYH7 expression by acting on upstream regulatory DNA. This creates a clear unmet need for in vivo genetic medicines that directly target the underlying genetic factors in heart dysfunction to safely and specifically modulate ventricular myosin heavy chain isoform balance at the enhancer level, improve contractility, and alter the trajectory of cardiomyopathy and heart failure.

ABSTRACT
Northwestern researchers have developed a unified epigenome-engineering strategy to therapeutically rebalance myosin heavy chain expression in cardiomyopathy and heart failure by combining two complementary genome-editing modalities. The first technology uses CRISPR-mediated deletion of disease-relevant enhancer elements within the MYH7/MYH6 regulatory locus to suppress MYH7 while inducing a compensatory increase in MYH6, leveraging enhancer loss-of-function to remodel the myosin program. The second leverages CRISPR-activation technology to deploy nuclease-defective Cas9 fused to transcriptional activators and targeted guide RNAs to engage MYH6 enhancer regions and selectively drive MYH6 upregulation, with data in human cardiomyocyte models showing the potential to lower MYH7 as well. Together, these enhancer-targeting approaches are designed to shift the MYH6/MYH7 balance toward a faster, more energetically favorable contractile phenotype, providing a precision, locus-specific platform that can be delivered via AAV or lipid nanoparticles and positioned for combination with existing heart failure and cardiomyopathy standards of care.

APPLICATIONS

• Precision gene therapy
• Genotype‑informed treatment of inherited cardiomyopathies
• Combination with emerging myosin modulators 

ADVANTAGES

• Increases therapeutic precision
• Minimizes off-target effects
• Enhances treatment potential
• Reduces long-term healthcare costs

PUBLICATIONS

• Gacita AM et al., Altered Enhancer and Promoter Usage Leads to Differential Gene Expression in the Normal and Failed Human Heart, Circ Heart Fail, Oct 2020
• Gacita AM et al., Genetic Variation in Enhancers Modifies Cardiomyopathy Gene Expression and Progression. Circulation. Mar 30, 2021.

KEYWORDS
Cardiology, cardiomyopathy, heart failure, MYH7, MYH6, gene editing, cardiac gene therapy, epigenetics, heart function, regenerative medicine

​

Survival curves of weanling mice immunized with LFn-LACV-Gc or LFn-LACV-N compared with LFn-ZIKV-NS3 and subsequently challenged with LACV

Invention Summary:

Novel T cell-based vaccine was developed by utilizing a fusion protein by binding a target protein or peptide molecule with transport factor derived from Bacteria. The target protein can act as an antigen, with a transport factor augmenting the antigen presentation to elicit increased T cell mediated immune response.

Rutgers researchers have developed a novel technology that involves the development of more robust T cell-based vaccines. They utilized the delivery of exogenous protein cargoes into the cell. The fusion proteins were designed by combining a modified transport factor derived from Bacillius sp toxin with target antigen comprising a protein fragment chosen according to the disease for which protection is desired. This method enhances the efficacy of treatment of various infectious diseases. This approach may also include a diagnostic kit to measure cell mediated immune response in vitro comprising a single or cocktail of proteins bound to Bacillus toxin. The method is validated by developing a vaccine against La crosse virus, a mosquito born virus for which no vaccine is currently available.

Market Applications:

• Vaccine development is used for treatment or augmenting the treatment of bacterial, viral, parasitic, fungal, or cancer therapies.
• Diagnostic kit may be developed to measure cell mediated response in vitro.
• Novel use of  fusion proteins to prevent La Crosse virus infection.

Advantages:

• Innovative fusion protein immunogens, better antigen presentation and strong T-cell mediated response. 
• Trains immune system to develop potent T-cell responses, which has been found to be an important protective mechanism against diseases
• Potential to prevent severe neuroinvasive disease in vulnerable populations
• First vaccine specifically targeting La Crosse virus

Publications:

Schuh T, Schultz J, Moelling K, Pavlovic J. DNA-Based Vaccine against La Crosse Virus: Protective Immune Response Mediated by Neutralizing Antibodies and CD4+ T Cells. Human Gene Therapy. 1999;10(10):1649-1658. doi:10.1089/10430349950017653

Intellectual Property & Development Status: PCT application filed. Patent pending. Available for licensing and/or research collaboration. For any business development and other collaborative partnerships, contact:  marketingbd@research.rutgers.edu

This portable, hand-cranked device filters and concentrates pathogens from wastewater using multi-stage filtration and centripetal force, enabling affordable, electricity-free infectious disease monitoring in resource-limited areas for rapid public health response.

Background

Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is a critical public health tool used to monitor community-level infectious diseases by analyzing environmental water samples. In many developing regions, waterborne illnesses like cholera and typhoid represent a severe health burden. To mitigate these threats, there is an urgent need for widespread disease surveillance to facilitate early outbreak detection. Effective WBE requires concentrating pathogens from large volumes of wastewater so downstream analyses can accurately identify disease presence. Consequently, public health agencies need accessible, high-throughput solutions capable of operating directly at remote sites to ensure timely epidemiological data collection.

Despite this necessity, current pathogen concentration methods are fundamentally ill-suited for resource-limited environments. Traditional approaches often rely on high-end commercial systems that are prohibitively expensive, excessively bulky, and entirely dependent on a stable electrical grid. Furthermore, these advanced systems typically demand laboratory-grade facilities, making on-site deployment in developing regions nearly impossible. Conversely, low-tech alternatives like Moore swabs suffer from a lack of pathogen-specific capture and low overall yield, rendering them unreliable for precise tracking. Ultimately, existing solutions force a compromise between unaffordable, infrastructure-heavy equipment and cheap methods that fail to provide diagnostic accuracy.

Technology Description

This portable wastewater surveillance system utilizes a hand-cranked, multi-stage filtration process to concentrate pathogens without electricity. The device begins with mechanical prefiltration to remove large debris. Its core mechanism features a gear-driven cyclone chamber rotated manually, generating centripetal force to drive liquid through a modular, detachable membrane enclosure. The system captures bacteria and viruses based on size and charge, processing one liter of wastewater in under thirty minutes. Designed for field deployment, the unit weighs under ten kilograms and uses bleach-compatible components to ensure reusability and sanitation.

What sets this technology apart is its ability to deliver advanced wastewater-based epidemiology to resource-limited environments. Unlike traditional commercial systems that are expensive and reliant on stable power grids, this solution is entirely grid-independent and highly cost-effective. It also outperforms rudimentary methods by offering high-throughput, pathogen-specific capture with yields exceeding 85%. The modular membrane enclosure allows users to easily swap filters to target specific threats, from bacteria to microscopic viruses. By enabling rapid, on-site pathogen concentration, this system empowers public health officials in underserved regions to conduct population-wide disease monitoring and detect outbreaks early.

Benefits

• Off-grid operation: Utilizes a hand-cranked, gear-driven mechanism that requires no electricity, making it ideal for remote and resource-limited environments.
• Highly portable: Weighing under 10 kg, the lightweight and compact design enables easy transport for on-site field deployment and monitoring.
• Cost-effective: With a target manufacturing cost under $500, it provides an affordable, scalable alternative to expensive laboratory-grade surveillance systems.
• Efficient and high-yield: Capable of processing 1 liter of wastewater in under 30 minutes while achieving high pathogen capture yields (over 75%) for downstream analysis.
• Versatile and modular: Features a detachable membrane enclosure that accommodates various membrane types to target specific pathogens, ranging from bacteria to small viruses.
• Reusable and sanitizable: Constructed with durable, bleach-compatible components that allow for high-level disinfection and repeated use.
• Accelerates public health response: Facilitates timely, population-wide infectious disease monitoring and faster outbreak detection in underserved communities.

Commercial Applications

• Off-grid wastewater epidemiology
• Remote water quality monitoring
• Disaster relief pathogen surveillance
• Rural community disease tracking
• Agricultural runoff pathogen testing

Opportunity

This patent is available for exclusive licensing.

This hand-powered wastewater surveillance system utilizes a gear-driven cyclone chamber to concentrate pathogens. Following mechanical prefiltration, manual cranking generates centripetal force, driving liquid through modular membranes that capture bacteria and viruses via size exclusion and electrostatic charge. Operating without electricity, this portable device facilitates on-site sample concentration in resource-limited environments. Its modular design allows for rapid membrane retrieval, supporting scalable infectious disease monitoring and downstream analysis.

Provisional patent 64/040,982 filed 04/16/26

This technology is a stable, intranasal dry powder formulation of levothyroxine free acid designed to improve absorption and avoid degradation, offering a more reliable alternative to oral thyroid hormone therapy for hypothyroidism.

Background

Hypothyroidism is a prevalent endocrine disorder affecting approximately 9 to 11 percent of the global population. Managing this chronic condition necessitates lifelong thyroid hormone replacement therapy to maintain normal metabolic functions. Because thyroid hormones possess a very narrow therapeutic index, minor deviations in blood levels can lead to significant clinical consequences. Consequently, there is a critical medical need for a highly reliable, patient-friendly drug delivery system that ensures precise systemic absorption and maintains stable hormone concentrations over time.

Current standard treatments rely on the oral administration of levothyroxine sodium pentahydrate, which presents substantial clinical challenges. Oral therapies suffer from highly variable bioavailability, ranging between 40 and 80 percent, and require strict administration on an empty stomach to prevent food and drug interactions. These stringent regimens frequently result in poor patient adherence and erratic hormone levels. Furthermore, attempting to bypass the gastrointestinal tract using standard liquid formulations introduces severe stability issues, as levothyroxine undergoes rapid chemical degradation in aqueous environments. Additionally, standard salt forms are highly hygroscopic, making them vulnerable to moisture-induced degradation and severely limiting their permeation capabilities across mucosal barriers.

Technology Description

This therapeutic solution is an intranasal dry powder formulation utilizing levothyroxine free acid (LFA) for managing hypothyroidism. Unlike traditional liquid sprays, this technology employs a dry powder delivery system to prevent the rapid chemical degradation levothyroxine experiences in aqueous environments. The formulation integrates specialized solubility and permeation enhancers tailored to the unique morphology of LFA particles. By delivering the medication directly across the nasal mucosa, the system provides an alternative administration route that avoids the gastrointestinal tract while maintaining the long-term chemical integrity of the active ingredient.

This technology is highly differentiated from standard oral therapies by overcoming their variable bioavailability and strict empty-stomach administration requirements. Utilizing the free acid form instead of traditional levothyroxine sodium pentahydrate provides superior solid-state stability due to significantly lower hygroscopicity, which minimizes moisture-induced degradation during storage. Furthermore, LFA demonstrates nearly double the mucosal permeation compared to standard salt forms. By shifting to an intranasal dry powder format, this solution eliminates food-drug interactions and inconsistent hormone levels, offering a highly stable, reliable, and patient-friendly approach to lifelong thyroid hormone replacement therapy.

Benefits

• Overcomes the variable bioavailability and strict fasting requirements associated with traditional oral levothyroxine treatments.
• Eliminates gastrointestinal food and drug interactions, promoting better patient adherence and more consistent thyroid hormone levels.
• Utilizes a dry powder delivery system that prevents the rapid chemical degradation commonly observed in liquid or aqueous formulations.
• Employs levothyroxine free acid (LFA), which offers significantly lower hygroscopicity and superior solid-state stability compared to standard salt forms, minimizing moisture-induced degradation during storage.
• Delivers nearly double the mucosal permeation of traditional levothyroxine sodium pentahydrate, further optimized by integrated solubility and permeation enhancers.

Commercial Applications

• Thyroid hormone replacement therapy
• Non-oral hypothyroidism treatment
• Overcoming gastrointestinal absorption issues
• Pediatric hypothyroidism management
• Veterinary hypothyroidism treatment

Opportunity

This patent is available for exclusive licensing.

This technology utilizes levothyroxine free acid in a dry powder format for intranasal delivery. By employing a solid-state formulation, it bypasses chemical degradation inherent in aqueous solutions. The free acid form offers lower hygroscopicity and superior mucosal permeation compared to levothyroxine sodium pentahydrate. Integrating solubility and permeation enhancers, this system optimizes drug transport across the nasal mucosa, ensuring consistent bioavailability and stability for thyroid hormone replacement therapy.

Provisional patent 64/030,982 filed 04/06/26

This technology is an intranasal gel spray that uses nanoscale simvastatin particles and mucoadhesive, thermoresponsive gel to improve brain drug delivery, increase nasal retention, and bypass first-pass metabolism for better treatment of neurological disorders.

Background

Central nervous system (CNS) disorders present significant treatment challenges, requiring targeted therapeutic interventions. Certain pharmaceutical agents, like simvastatin, possess potent neuroprotective and anticonvulsant properties that make them highly desirable for treating neurological conditions. To effectively utilize these therapeutics, there is a critical need for noninvasive delivery methods capable of transporting drugs directly to the brain. Intranasal administration has emerged as a promising route to achieve this goal. By offering a direct nose-to-brain conduit, this pathway successfully bypasses the restrictive blood-brain barrier, presenting a vital opportunity to enhance the efficacy of neurological treatments.

Despite this potential, current delivery approaches face severe limitations that hinder clinical success. A primary obstacle is the poor water solubility of these drugs, coupled with extensive first-pass metabolism that severely restricts their bioavailability. Furthermore, when administered via conventional nasal suspensions, these therapeutics suffer from inadequate uniformity and poor mucosal interaction. The most critical barrier is the natural mucociliary clearance mechanism within the nasal cavity. This physiological process rapidly sweeps away standard liquid formulations before adequate absorption occurs, drastically reducing the drug's residence time. Consequently, traditional formulations fail to maintain the localized concentration required for optimal CNS targeting.

Technology Description

This advanced intranasal delivery system administers central nervous system therapeutics, specifically simvastatin, directly to the brain. The platform integrates a nanoscale drug dispersion mechanism that significantly enhances medication solubility and uniformity. A core feature is its in-situ gelling, thermoresponsive matrix. At room temperature, the formulation remains a sprayable liquid, but upon reaching the nasal cavity's temperature of 34°C, it rapidly transitions into a gel within 60 seconds. Additionally, the system incorporates mucoadhesive properties to counteract natural mucociliary clearance. It is engineered to produce a specific spray plume geometry targeting the upper turbinate region, facilitating optimal nose-to-brain transport.

This technology is highly differentiated by its ability to overcome traditional barriers of neurological drug delivery, specifically poor water solubility and extensive first-pass metabolism. By bypassing the blood-brain barrier, it provides a highly efficient, noninvasive route for neuroprotective treatments. Unlike conventional liquid suspensions that are quickly washed away, this platform’s mucoadhesive gel ensures prolonged mucosal interaction and sustained release. Furthermore, the nanoscale dispersion achieves superior deposition and uniformity compared to standard formulations, maximizing overall bioavailability. This rationally engineered approach makes it a distinct, highly effective solution for treating complex neurological disorders.

Benefits

• Enables direct, noninvasive nose-to-brain drug delivery, effectively bypassing the blood-brain barrier and first-pass metabolism to improve bioavailability.
• Enhances the solubility and uniformity of poorly water-soluble drugs (like simvastatin) through advanced nanoscale dispersion.
• Prolongs drug residence time and counteracts rapid mucociliary clearance using specialized mucoadhesive properties.
• Improves ease of administration and retention with a thermoresponsive matrix that sprays easily as a liquid at room temperature and rapidly gels at body temperature.
• Maximizes central nervous system (CNS) delivery efficiency by utilizing a specific spray plume geometry that precisely targets the upper turbinate region of the nasal cavity.
• Facilitates sustained drug release and superior interaction with the nasal mucosa, offering a highly effective platform for treating neurological disorders.

Commercial Applications

• Nose-to-brain drug delivery
• Neurological disorder treatment
• Poorly soluble drug administration
• Noninvasive anticonvulsant therapy delivery
• Neuroprotective medication delivery

Opportunity

This patent is available for exclusive licensing.

This intranasal platform employs a nanoscale simvastatin dispersion within a thermoresponsive, mucoadhesive matrix. It transitions from liquid to gel at 34°C within 60 seconds, enhancing residence time against mucociliary clearance. The system's specific spray geometry targets the upper turbinate, facilitating direct nose-to-brain delivery. By bypassing first-pass metabolism and improving drug solubility, this technology optimizes the delivery of neuroprotective agents to the central nervous system.

Provisional patent 64/030,796 filed 04/06/26

This technology uses a flexible, skin-like e-tattoo sensor and advanced signal processing to accurately monitor muscle fatigue during exercise, filtering out noise for reliable, multi-day tracking useful in sports, rehabilitation, and wearable robotics.

Background

Surface electromyography (sEMG) is a critical tool used to monitor muscle activation and estimate fatigue across various domains, including athletic training, physical rehabilitation, and the control of wearable robotic exoskeletons. Continuous, multi-day tracking of muscle fatigue is essential for optimizing physical performance, preventing injury, and guiding recovery protocols. To achieve this in real-world settings, there is a pressing need for wearable monitoring systems that can reliably capture physiological signals during dynamic exercises over extended periods. Such continuous monitoring requires sensors that can seamlessly integrate with the user's daily life without requiring constant recalibration or interrupting routine activities.

Despite the clear demand, current sEMG approaches face significant limitations that hinder accurate fatigue assessment. Traditional Ag/AgCl gel electrodes are prone to sensor instability and high contact impedance over time, often causing skin irritation and signal degradation during multi-day wear or exposure to moisture. Furthermore, dynamic movements introduce severe motion artifacts driven by sensor inertia and shifts at the skin-electrode interface. These mechanical disturbances, combined with impulsive noise like electrostatic bursts, result in highly nonstationary signals. This nonstationarity obscures the underlying physiological data, making it exceedingly difficult to extract stable spectral features and accurately predict fatigue levels.

Technology Description

This advanced muscle fatigue estimation solution integrates an ultrathin, skin-conformal e-tattoo sensor with a sophisticated multi-stage signal processing pipeline. The wearable hardware features a 50-µm-thick, stretchable, serpentine-patterned conductive graphite polyurethane film that adheres directly to the skin. It is paired with a compact data acquisition module that continuously samples electromyography signals. The core software component is the BH-IEEMD pipeline, which sequentially applies digital bandpass filtering, Hampel filtering for outlier suppression, and a two-pass iterative ensemble empirical mode decomposition. This architecture extracts stable physiological features, feeding them into machine learning regression models to predict fatigue levels.

This technology is highly differentiated by its ability to provide reliable, continuous multi-day monitoring during dynamic exercises without daily recalibration. Unlike traditional gel electrodes, the biocompatible e-tattoo maintains lower contact impedance over five days of continuous wear, allowing users to shower or swim without signal degradation. Furthermore, the specialized BH-IEEMD pipeline uniquely overcomes the nonstationarity and mechanical artifacts inherent in dynamic movements. By isolating true physiological muscle activation from motion-induced noise, the system significantly improves signal stationarity, resulting in highly accurate fatigue tracking for athletic training and rehabilitation.

Technologies

• Bioelectric Signals

Benefits

• Enables continuous, multi-day wear (up to five days) without skin irritation, allowing users to comfortably perform daily activities such as showering and swimming.
• Significantly reduces motion-induced artifacts and maintains stable, low contact impedance through an ultrathin, stretchable, and skin-conformal e-tattoo design.
• Effectively isolates true physiological muscle signals from mechanical noise, impulsive spikes, and nonstationary interference during dynamic exercises using an advanced multi-stage signal processing pipeline.
• Delivers highly accurate and reliable muscle fatigue tracking with high model certainty and superior sensitivity to physiological fatigue trends.
• Elimates the need for daily sensor recalibration, providing a robust and low-maintenance solution for longitudinal monitoring.
• Offers versatile, real-world applications across athletic training, physical rehabilitation, and the control of wearable robotic exoskeletons.

Commercial Applications

• Athletic training fatigue monitoring
• Physical therapy and rehabilitation
• Wearable robotic exoskeleton control
• Industrial worker fatigue monitoring
• Military personnel fatigue tracking

Opportunity

This patent is available for exclusive licensing.

This system integrates a 50-µm-thick, serpentine-patterned graphite polyurethane e-tattoo with a BH-IEEMD signal processing pipeline. The sensor maintains stable skin-conformal contact, minimizing motion artifacts during dynamic exercise. The multi-stage architecture employs digital bandpass filtering, Hampel outlier suppression, and two-pass ensemble empirical mode decomposition with adaptive median filtering. This isolates physiological electromyography signals from nonstationary noise, enabling accurate muscle fatigue estimation via regression-based feature analysis.

Provisional patent 64/054,891 filed 04/01/26

This technology uses specialized 3D printing to precisely control material stiffness within medical devices, creating internal structures that enhance ultrasound visibility and allow for customizable, highly visible patterns to aid in device localization during imaging.

Background

Ultrasound imaging is a critical navigational tool in medicine, relying on acoustic impedance differences between materials to visualize internal anatomy. During minimally invasive procedures, clinicians frequently use ultrasound to guide the placement of medical devices like catheters. For these interventions to be safe, there is a paramount need for these instruments to be highly visible on a monitor. Accurate real-time device localization ensures clinicians can navigate complex anatomical pathways without causing tissue damage, making echogenicity a vital safety characteristic for interventional tools.

Despite this need, current approaches to enhancing device echogenicity suffer from significant limitations. Traditionally, manufacturers rely on applying external coatings or attaching physical surface markers to the instrument. This is problematic because it requires incorporating additional structures, which can alter the device's physical profile. Furthermore, these conventional modifications fail to alter the inherent material properties of the device itself. Because they rely on superficial additions, current methods lack the capacity for full three-dimensional spatial patterning. Consequently, it is difficult to create customizable acoustic reflector geometries directly within the device, leaving clinicians with suboptimal ultrasound signatures that cannot be tailored.

Technology Description

Hybrid Epoxy Acrylate Printing (HEAP) is an advanced 3D printing technology designed to manufacture echogenic medical devices with highly customizable acoustic properties. The solution utilizes a dual-wavelength photochemical process to manipulate a hybrid resin containing acrylate and epoxy components. Exposing the resin to 365 nm UV light polymerizes both networks to form a stiff structure, whereas 405 nm blue light selectively polymerizes only the acrylate network, yielding a soft material. This mechanism enables pixel-by-pixel spatial control over mechanical stiffness and acoustic impedance within a single printed object, allowing manufacturers to seamlessly embed high-impedance acoustic reflectors directly within a low-impedance matrix.

This technology is highly differentiated because it alters the intrinsic material properties of the device rather than relying on traditional external coatings or added surface markers. By exploiting an extraordinary 2800-fold difference in mechanical stiffness and a 168-fold contrast in acoustic impedance between the stiff and soft regions, the solution achieves unparalleled ultrasound visibility. Furthermore, this intrinsic material control allows for the creation of fully customizable, complex 3D reflector geometries directly within the device architecture. This capability generates unique, highly distinct ultrasound signatures, ensuring precise spatial localization and superior imaging clarity during critical medical procedures.

Technologies 

• Catheters
• Mapping or imaging

Benefits

• Significantly enhances ultrasound visibility and precise device localization by creating up to a 168-fold contrast in acoustic impedance.
• Eliminates the need for external coatings or additional surface markers by directly integrating acoustic reflectors into the internal material structure of the device.
• Enables full 3D spatial patterning to create highly customizable acoustic reflector geometries, spacing, and unique ultrasound signatures.
• Provides pixel-level control over material stiffness (ranging from 0.6 MPa to 1.7 GPa), allowing for continuous or discrete mechanical gradients within a single object.
• Streamlines manufacturing by utilizing a dual-wavelength 3D printing process to fabricate complex, multi-modulus medical devices (such as catheters) in a single continuous print.

Commercial Applications

• Echogenic ultrasound-guided catheters
• Ultrasound-visible implantable devices
• Echogenic biopsy needles
• Ultrasound-guided surgical instruments
• Custom acoustic metamaterials

Opportunity

This patent is available for exclusive licensing.

Hybrid Epoxy Acrylate Printing (HEAP) uses dual-wavelength photochemical 3D printing to spatially control material stiffness. By selectively polymerizing acrylate and epoxy networks with 365 nm and 405 nm light, it achieves a modulus range from 0.6 MPa to 1.7 GPa. This enables pixel-level patterning of high-impedance reflectors within a low-impedance matrix, allowing medical devices like catheters to feature customizable 3D acoustic signatures for enhanced ultrasound visibility and localization.

Provisional Patent 64/042,389 filed 04/17/2026

This is a small, external device that clips onto surgical drain tubes and uses gentle vibrations to actively prevent clogs and fluid buildup, helping maintain continuous drainage and reduce complications after surgery.

Background

Surgical drains are critical devices utilized during postoperative care to remove excess fluids from surgical sites. Maintaining continuous fluid flow and negative pressure is essential for proper healing. However, there is a significant clinical need for improved management because these devices frequently suffer from lumenal obstruction. Up to 23% of patients experience drain clogging caused by fibrin, blood clots, tissue debris, and biofilm. This fluid stagnation leads to severe complications, including seromas, hematomas, and localized infections. These adverse events necessitate additional medical interventions, prolong hospital stays, and create a substantial economic burden, highlighting the urgent necessity for effective obstruction prevention.

Despite these risks, current methods for maintaining drain patency remain fundamentally inadequate and reactive. Standard practices often rely on manual techniques, such as stripping or milking the tubing, which are inconsistent and can inadvertently cause patient trauma. Furthermore, existing commercial alternatives, like multi-lumen drains, focus primarily on clearing blockages only after they have formed rather than preventing them. These conventional strategies fail to offer active protection against initial clot formation. Additionally, these cumbersome manual methods are poorly suited for outpatient settings, leaving a critical gap for patients who require safe, autonomous drain management at home.

Technology Description

The portable surgical drain module is an external, clip-on device designed to attach seamlessly to standard surgical drain tubing. Utilizing an integrated Eccentric Rotating Mass (ERM) mechanism, the module generates gentle, periodic vibrations along the tubing. These automated vibrations are specifically calibrated to maintain continuous fluid flow and preserve negative pressure within the drain lumen. Designed as a compact, lightweight, and disposable Class I medical device, the module is highly user-friendly, allowing for easy attachment, cleaning, and maintenance in both clinical and at-home postoperative care settings.

This technology is uniquely differentiated by its proactive, non-invasive approach to lumenal obstruction. Unlike traditional reactive methods that rely on manual stripping or internal mechanisms to clear existing blockages, this solution actively prevents initial clot formation and fluid stagnation before they occur. By attaching externally, it completely avoids interference with the sterile fluid path, significantly reducing the risk of infection. Furthermore, its automated mechanical agitation eliminates the need for inconsistent manual milking, enhancing patient autonomy, minimizing complications like seromas and hematomas, and lowering overall healthcare costs.

Benefits

• Actively prevents clog formation and fluid stagnation to maintain continuous flow and negative pressure.
• Features a non-invasive, external clip-on design that avoids interference with the sterile fluid path.
• Reduces the risk of postoperative complications, such as infections, seromas, and hematomas.
• Enhances patient autonomy by enabling easy and safe at-home drain management, reducing the need for clinical visits.
• Provides a cost-effective, disposable solution that lowers overall healthcare costs by minimizing complications and interventions.
• Adaptable for use in both human postoperative care and veterinary surgical applications.

Commercial Applications

• Postoperative surgical drain management
• Veterinary surgical drain care
• At-home surgical drain maintenance
• Outpatient fluid drainage management
• Prophylactic drain clog prevention

Opportunity

This patent is available for exclusive licensing.

This external, clip-on module for standard surgical drain tubing utilizes an Eccentric Rotating Mass mechanism to generate periodic vibrations. These frequencies proactively prevent lumenal obstruction from clots or debris, ensuring continuous fluid flow and negative pressure. By attaching externally, the device maintains a sterile fluid path while automating mechanical agitation. This compact, Class I medical device reduces postoperative complications like seromas and infections through active, non-invasive prophylactic maintenance.

Provisional patent 63/995,265 filed 03/03/26

• Precision irrigation systems for crops, especially leafy vegetables like lettuce in water-limited regions
• Hydroponic and soil-based crop production enhancement technologies
• Commercial farm integration for sustainable yield improvement and resource conservation
• Agricultural water management solutions addressing climate-resilient food production
• Soil remediation and enhancement via improved aeration and microbial community support
• Phytoremediation augmentation through enhanced uptake of nutrients and toxins
• Development of nanobubble generators for targeted gas delivery in irrigation systems

• Enhances seed germination rates and accelerates early plant development
• Improves water use efficiency by up to 23%, reducing irrigation demands
• Tailors specific gas types and nanobubble concentrations to distinct physiological pathways
• Optimizes nutrient uptake and root elongation, particularly nitrogen and micronutrients like zinc and manganese
• Improves soil aeration and microbial diversity, benefiting soil health
• Reduces oxidative stress risks by adjusting oxygen nanobubble dosage
• Applicable to soil-based and hydroponic systems with scalable integration potential

Gastrointestinal (GI) motility disorders, such as gastroparesis and functional dyspepsia, are characterized by abnormal gastric electrical rhythms and impaired muscular contractions, leading to symptoms like nausea, bloating, and delayed gastric emptying. The underlying mechanisms of these disorders remain poorly understood. Non-invasive monitoring and modulation of gastric activity are crucial for both clinical management and advancing research in gut-brain neuroscience. Traditional diagnostic tools, such as electrogastrography (EGG) or implanted gastric electrical stimulators (GES), provide a window into gastric slow-wave activity, but their clinical utility is limited in quality due to technical challenges or are too invasive. These limitations hinder both effective therapy and the ability to conduct mechanistic studies of gut-brain coupling. There is a pressing need for technologies that can reliably monitor and modulate gastric rhythms in real time, without requiring invasive procedures. 

Technology description

This technology is a wearable system that seamlessly integrates EGG and focused ultrasound (FUS) to enable non-invasive, real-time monitoring and modulation of gastric activity. At its core is a multilayer sweat-adaptive hydrogel electrode, engineered from a poly(AMPS-SBMA) network reinforced with AMPS microgels. This hydrogel provides stable, low-impedance skin contact and pH-responsive adhesion, ensuring reliable performance even under sweat. The hydrogel’s multilayer structure selectively damps low-frequency noise while preserving the crucial gastric slow-wave signals, enabling high-fidelity EGG recordings. The system also incorporates a miniaturized, self-focusing FUS transducer, allowing for depth-selective gastric pacing. Together, these features support simultaneous, artifact-resistant EGG recording and FUS neuromodulation, facilitating advanced studies and therapies for gut-brain interactions and gastrointestinal motility disorders. The system’s ability to deliver non-invasive, depth-specific FUS stimulation eliminates the need for surgical interventions like implanted gastric stimulators, while its robust signal quality and artifact suppression enable precise, real-time assessment and modulation of gastric rhythms. Human studies demonstrate that the platform not only captures stable gastric signals during daily activities but also effectively modulates gastric activity and enhances gut-brain coupling, marking a significant leap forward in wearable bioelectronic medicine for gastrointestinal health.

Benefits

• Non-invasive, real-time monitoring and modulation of gastric electrical activity and gut-brain interactions
• Sweat-adaptive multilayer hydrogel electrodes 
• High-fidelity EGG signal acquisition with minimal artifacts
• Depth-selective, miniaturized FUS transducer enabling precise gastric neuromodulation
• Wearable, flexible, and breathable design suitable for long-term use
• Improved gut-to-brain communication through synchronized sensing and stimulation
• Eliminates need for invasive surgical implants
• Robust electrochemical stability and high biocompatibility 

Commercial Applications

• Non-invasive gastric motility disorder therapy
• Real-time gut-brain interaction research
• Wearable gastrointestinal diagnostics
• Personalized neuromodulation for GI diseases
• Longitudinal monitoring of gastric rhythms

Opportunity

This patent is available for exclusive licensing.

This wearable platform integrates electrogastrography (EGG) with focused ultrasound (FUS) for non-invasive gastric monitoring and modulation. It features a sweat-adaptive hydrogel electrode for stable, low-impedance skin contact and noise damping, alongside a miniaturized FUS transducer for depth-selective gastric pacing. The system enables simultaneous, high-fidelity EGG recording and neuromodulation, facilitating real-time assessment and alteration of gastric rhythms and gut-brain coupling.

Intellectual Property

U.S. Provisional serial no. 63/944,868 was filed on 12/19/2025.

This technology is a customizable, fully synthetic hydrogel made from self-assembling nucleopeptides, designed to mimic the natural cell environment, support stem cell growth, deliver growth factors and nucleic acids, and replace animal-derived cell culture matrices.

Background

The field of advanced cell culture, particularly involving human induced pluripotent stem cells, relies heavily on three-dimensional extracellular matrix substrates to support cell growth, differentiation, and tissue modeling. There is a critical need for highly defined, biocompatible, and tunable culture environments that can accurately mimic the native extracellular matrix. Researchers require reliable substrates that provide structural support while enabling the precise regulation of cellular behaviors. Developing fully synthetic platforms that support cell adhesion and viability is essential to advance regenerative medicine, disease modeling, and translational research.

Despite this growing need, current gold-standard matrices used for stem cell culture suffer from severe limitations that impede clinical progress. The most widely used commercial substrates are derived from animal tumors, resulting in a xenogeneic origin and a highly undefined biochemical composition. Consequently, these traditional matrices exhibit significant batch-to-batch variability, making experimental reproducibility incredibly difficult. Furthermore, the presence of unknown animal-derived proteins introduces confounding variables into cellular assays and poses severe immunogenic risks, ultimately hindering the scalability and safe translation of stem cell therapies into human clinical applications.

Technology Description

The synthetic hydrogel system utilizes self-assembling nucleopeptides to form fibrous, extracellular matrix-like networks at physiological pH. As a highly tunable platform, this solution can be complexed with polysaccharides like sodium alginate to enhance structural stability and enable sustained growth factor release. The hydrogel is easily functionalized with bioactive peptide motifs—such as RGD, YIGSR, or IKVAV—to promote cell adhesion and support diverse cell types in 3D culture. Additionally, the system can incorporate and deliver nucleic acids, including pro-survival microRNAs, to regulate gene expression and boost cell viability, creating a defined, biocompatible, and biodegradable substrate.

This technology is differentiated by providing a fully synthetic, biomimetic alternative to traditional animal-derived matrices like Matrigel. Current gold-standard matrices suffer from batch-to-batch variability, xenogeneic origins, and undefined chemical compositions, which hinder experimental reproducibility and clinical translation. By utilizing a modular approach, this solution overcomes these barriers, offering precise customization without compromising the cellular environment. Its defined composition ensures consistent, scalable results, making it uniquely suited for cultivating sensitive human induced pluripotent stem cells. Combining structural tunability, targeted bioactivity, and localized gene delivery within a single, reproducible platform sets it apart from conventional cell culture substrates.

Technologies

• Hydrogels or hydrocolloids
• Polypeptides or derivatives thereof
• Undifferentiated human, animal or plant cells, e.g. cell lines

Benefits

• Fully synthetic and defined composition: Eliminates the batch-to-batch variability and xenogeneic (animal-derived) risks associated with traditional matrices like Matrigel, ensuring high reproducibility for clinical and translational applications.
• Highly modular and customizable: Functions as a tunable "hydrogel spice rack," allowing users to easily adjust mechanical properties and incorporate specific bioactive components to create tailored cell culture environments.
• Biomimetic ECM-like structure: Self-assembles at physiological pH into biocompatible and biodegradable fibrous networks that closely mimic the natural extracellular matrix, effectively supporting 2.5D and 3D cell cultures.
• Enhanced cell adhesion: Can be easily functionalized with specific bioactive peptide motifs (such as RGD, YIGSR, and IKVAV) to promote targeted cell attachment, spreading, and colony formation, particularly for sensitive human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs).
• Sustained growth factor release: Can be hybridized with polysaccharides (like sodium alginate) to improve overall hydrogel stability and enable the controlled, sustained release of essential growth factors.
• Integrated nucleic acid delivery: Features an inherent ability to bind and deliver therapeutic nucleic acids, such as pro-survival miRNAs, allowing for targeted gene regulation and improved cell viability under stressful conditions like hypoxia.

Commercial Applications

• Stem cell culture matrix
• 3D cell culture substrate
• Targeted nucleic acid delivery
• Tissue engineering scaffold material
• Sustained growth factor release

Opportunity

This patent is available for exclusive licensing.

A modular, synthetic hydrogel platform utilizes self-assembling nucleopeptides, like thymine-triphenylalanine, to create fibrous, biomimetic scaffolds at physiological pH. Enhanced by polysaccharides, the system offers tunable mechanical stability and sustained growth factor release. Functionalization with bioactive motifs promotes cell adhesion, while the matrix facilitates nucleic acid delivery for gene regulation. It serves as a biocompatible, biodegradable 3D substrate for advanced human induced pluripotent stem cell culture.

Provisional Patent  64/034,103 filed 04/09/2026

• Tunable Poisson’s ratio (from -1 to 0)
• High stretchiness with controllable effective tensile modulus
• Optimal combinations of high reflectance (>90%) and low prestress (<0.5N/m, more than an order of magnitude lower than what is used with metal fabric meshes)

Stage of Development:

• Concept

The perforated films with rotating squares used as reflectors have tunable Poisson’s ratio.
Intellectual Property:

• PCT Application Filed WO2026029945A2 

Reference Media:



Desired Partnerships:

• License
• Research Collaboration

Docket #25-10856