Many acute and chronic medical and surgical conditions require health care providers to make accurate assessments of a patient's circulating volume status (the volume of blood in a patient's circulatory system). This helps them decide whether a patient will favorably respond to being given additional intravenous fluids or if providing these fluids will place them at risk for complications such as lung edema.

The current non-invasive standard of care is the traditional physical exam (listening to the heart and lungs, etc.). This approach has been demonstrated to be essentially a "flip of a coin" in making such determinations.

Additionally, the current invasive standard of care consists of the cannulation (inserting a tube into the vessel) of a major vein in the neck. This requires the patient to be in a particular medical setting such as the intensive care unit. Cannulation requires experienced personnel and can put the patient at risk for complications such as infections and collapsed lungs.

U-M Medical School faculty Hakam Tiba, MD, Kevin Ward, MD, Albert Shih, PhD, and Barry Belmont, MS, have developed a non-invasive method that monitors a patient's circulating blood volume without the risks of a more invasive treatment. This new method, Dynamic Respiratory Impedance Volume Evaluation (DRIVE), is based on the dynamic relationship between venous return, the function of the right ventricle, and its interaction with lung mechanics as key determinants of estimating intravascular volume status.

"DRIVE assesses functional volume by utilizing changes in limb blood volume produced by ventilation as measured by changes in impedance of the limb," says Dr. Tiba. "These changes have been shown to track changes in the diameter of the inferior vena cava as measured with ultrasound. We hope that DRIVE will help a number of people including those suffering from trauma, heart failure, sepsis, dialysis, burn, and resuscitation."

The DRIVE technology is being tested in critically ill and injured patients undergoing volume resuscitation or volume removal in the intensive care unit using off-the-shelf commercially available components. The team is also developing a small wearable and wireless device that will support the DRIVE method of blood volume assessment.

"Developing devices and methodologies that can provide continuous easily interpreted information would be useful for many levels of intravascular volume management care. These levels range from the home and clinic, to the ambulance, emergency department, ICU, and general wards. Such technology would personalize the diagnosis and treatment plan for volume and fluid management of the individual.

"MTRAC funding and support is helping us complete and test our DRIVE technology and develop the related device," says Dr. Tiba. "The MTRAC team also provides excellent business guidance and advice as we speak with investors and technology companies to move our product to market."

MTRAC is supported by the U-M Medical School, the U-M Tech Transfer Office, and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and works to "fast forward" projects with a high potential of commercial success, with the ultimate goal of positively impacting human health. DRIVE is just one of 11 projects in the 2014 cohort funded by MTRAC. And the program recently announced its 2015 MTRAC awardees, with 11 teams set to receive early commercialization development funding this year.

On Friday, February 6, the FFMI team and Office of Tech Transfer co-hosted Ideation for Impact: Health IT, a collaborative session focusing on digital health IT development and commercialization.   

22 project teams learned about the digital discovery process, customer needs, and how to cultivate a plan of action for their technology development via "speed-dating" interviews with our guest investment and industry experts.  

A tragic accident 32 years ago forever altered the lives of an entire prominent Michigan auto industry family, as a beloved wife and mother suffered a devastating traumatic brain injury, or TBI.

Now, the Massey family has invested in the hope that the University of Michigan medical and scientific teams can spare other families what they endured.  

With a significant gift from the Joyce and Don Massey Family Foundation, the U-M Health System has launched a major initiative to find new ways to treat TBI, and to care for and support those affected by it.

To recognize their generosity, UMHS has named a new emergency treatment area in their honor. When it opens later this month, it will give patients who have suffered a TBI, stroke, major trauma, or other critical illness or injury the most advanced care possible in the first crucial hours of their crisis.

Located within the adult emergency department in University Hospital, the Joyce and Don Massey Family Foundation Emergency Critical Care Center, or EC3, will be among the first of its kind in the United States.  

CLICK HERE to read more. 

To better understand and meet the needs of the U-M biomedical research community, the U-M Medical School Office of Research is currently assessing the actions individuals take when seeking out research funding opportunities.  

TAKE THE SURVEY

The time you spend completing this brief survey will help us bring you the information you need to find future funding success.

Plus, every person who submits a completed survey will be entered automatically in a prize drawing to win a $50 Amazon.com gift card!

We appreciate your taking the time to provide us with valuable feedback. 

Michigan Experts is a searchable database of research expertise across disciplines, offering a rich representation of the research knowledge and talent of over 3,000 faculty members across the University of Michigan.

Use the database to find researchers with specific areas of expertise for collaboration or mentoring, explore co-author networks, and connect with colleagues across the preeminent U-M research enterprise to expand your research network. Not sure what to look for? Search the database by concept, individual name, or "free text" excerpt (such as an abstract or RFA).

Michigan Experts currently includes faculty from several schools, centers, and institutes, including:

• Medical School
• Schools of: Kinesiology, Dentistry, Engineering, Nursing, Pharmacy, Public Health
• Cancer Center
• Kresge Hearing Research Institute
• Samuel and Jean Frankel Cardiovascular Center
• U-M Dearborn
• Life Sciences Institute and many more!

Each faculty member has an individualized profile page that enables them to showcase their distinctive expertise to the global research community by providing a rich representation of their:

• Publications (updated on a weekly basis through the Scopus database)
• Grants, e.g. externally-funded sponsored projects obtained while at U-M
• Patents (obtained through the U-M Office of Technology Transfer while at U-M)

Coming Soon!

Michigan Experts will undergo a platform upgrade, which will increase the capabilities of the site and add functionality, such as the ability to upload publications from other select databases. Stay tuned for more information, including future training opportunities to review the new platform.

The database, powered by Elsevier, is managed by the Medical School's Office of Research and Medical School Information Services.   

Data from Michigan Experts is fed into the Michigan Corporate Relations Network (MCRN) portal, known as the Michigan Expertise Portal. Six public universities and the University Research Corridor are partnered with the private sector to connect business relationship offices at Michigan Technological University, the University of Michigan, UM-Dearborn, Western Michigan University, Michigan State University, and Wayne State University. 

Questions? Email us at experts-help@umich.edu. 

Limited submissions are now being accepted for the 2015 Agilent Early Career Professor Award recognizing individuals making important research contributions on the path toward full professor.  

Focus for 2015 submissions should be the contribution to the understanding and use of CRISPR/Cas or other RNA-based technologies for genome editing, control and other applications. CLICK HERE for more information.  

The Fast Forward Medical Innovation team at the University of Michigan Medical School works to accelerate innovation and commercialization of research at its inception, collaborate with commercial partners via novel models, and enhance medical education by fostering innovation and entrepreneurship at all levels. We help UMMS faculty and strategic partners collaborate, with the ultimate goal of accelerating research and technology to improve human health. To connect, email us or call 734-615-5060.