Biomedical engineering students and their faculty adviser at Johns Hopkins University have invented a system that detects early signs of premature labor. By detecting contractions before 37 weeks gestation with greater accuracy and sensitivity than existing tools, the system could allow doctors to take earlier measures to prevent premature births, which are linked to neonatal deaths or serious health problems such as breathing difficulties and brain development problems. The National Center for Health Statistics estimates that some 500,000 premature live births occur annually in the United States.

Initially, the Hopkins students proposed a new blood test to find proteins associated with early labor, but faculty adviser Abimbola Aina-Mumuney, MD, assistant professor of maternal fetal medicine in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, steered them toward building a better device to detect physical signals inside the expectant mother’s body. To find signs of preterm labor, physicians long have relied on a tocodynamometer — a belt attached to a woman’s abdomen — for external monitoring of uterine contractions. The students’ device consists of a ring made of medical-grade biocompatible silicone elastomer that can be compressed and inserted into the vaginal canal at a physician’s office or hospital. Embedded within the ring are sensors designed to detect electrical signals associated with uterine contractions.

The prototype has not yet been used on human patients, but early animal test results are promising, according to the team. The goal is to allow doctors to prolong preterm delivery by as much as six weeks, rather than just a few days using existing technology. Working with the Johns Hopkins TTO, the team has obtained a provisional patent covering their invention and has formed CervoCheck LLC, to advance the project. “We estimate that the cost savings could be more than $44,000 per patient for every preterm birth we could prevent,” says student co-inventor Karin Hwang.

Source:  PhysOrg.com

Posted July 28th, 2010 under Tech Transfer

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