Medtronic, Minneapolis, MN, has entered into an innovative partnership with Center for Bioengineering Innovation and Design (CBID) at the The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, agreeing to provide $200,000 a year for up to three years and skilled mentoring to help biomedical engineering students design new healthcare solutions for underserved patients in developing countries.
CBID teams students with faculty researchers, physicians, and experienced engineers and scientists who mentor and help them understand healthcare needs and the broader impact on those who deliver and receive medical services. The advisers offer guidance as the students and their clinician partners design solutions and build and test them.
The initial medical target of the partnership will be to treat people who have a health disorder called atrioventricular block, or AV block. In patients with AV block, the heart's electrical signals are slowed as they move between the heart's upper and lower chambers, interfering with the pumping process. A pacemaker is a common remedy. Given CBID’s four-year experience in India as well the unmet needs in healthcare in that country, India will be the initial focus.
To initiate this project, team members will visit mid-tier clinics and hospitals in India to observe how patients are selected to receive pacemakers and to see what type of devices are now being used and how these devices are implanted. When the students return, they will brainstorm to develop a number of ways to improve care for patients through technology.
Johns Hopkins faculty members and physicians, along with Medtronic mentors, will help the graduate students choose the best option and begin building a prototype. The team’s best design is unveiled in May, marking the conclusion of the master’s degree program.
