Award Data

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Advanced Biofidelic Lower Extremity Kids prosthesis (ABLE Kids) project will advance the state-of-the-art of pediatric prosthesis systems by advancing the demonstrably successful Phase I device and refining it intoan ultracompact and lightweight form factor suitable for pediatric use. Through the support of the Shriner's Hospitals in Salt Lake City, U ...

SUMMARY Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a leading cause of blindness in the United States. Currently, most treatments for DR are only applicable at the late stage and are invasive. Anti-VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) agents have achieved impressive therapeutic effects against DR and neovascularization (NV). However, 40% of patients with DR have inadequate responses to the treatment. Given ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Retinal vascular leakage or breakdown of the blood-retina barrier (BRB) is an early feature of diabetic retinopathy (DR) and can lead to diabetic macular edema (DME), which is the single greatest cause of vision loss in diabetic patients. Currently, there is no effective drug treatment for DME. Although the pathogenesis of DR is uncertain, over-expression of va ...

Diabetes affects more than 9% of Americans and costs over $300 billion in 2017 in USA. Medical therapies have limitations in treating diabetic patients with obesity due their common side effects of weight gain. Bariatric surgery has been proposed for treating diabetic patients with promising outcomes. In this project, we propose a novel method of intestinal electrical stimulation (IES) for treatin ...

Fine-scale, well-calibrated probabilistic weather forecasts are increasingly in demand for such weather-critical applications as battlespace management, and accurate prediction of high-value airborne operations. Built upon the Phase I effort we have just completed, the principal objective of this proposed study (Phase II) is to develop a reliable, efficient, and easily deployable reforecast-calibr ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Stiffness and alignment of ankle-foot orthoses (AFOs) should be tuned optimally to maximize their function. Improperly tuned AFO may induce joint pain, reduced ambulatory function, and increased medical complications for patients with stroke. Therefore, the relative quality of AFOs fit determined by its stiffness and alignment is of paramount concern in the d ...

DESCRIPTION provided by applicant Diabetic retinopathy DR is a common complication of diabetes and a leading cause of vision loss in the United States Although the anti vascular endothelial growth factor VEGF drugs have shown impressive efficacies on wet age related macular degeneration AMD they are only effective in approximately of patients with DR likely due to the multi factori ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): An innovative instrument for measuring exhaled compounds was demonstrated in Phase I of this project. The novel breath monitor (Breathmeter TM) consists of a tunable mid-IR diode laser, a long optical resonator, and el

Abstract: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most devastating human cancers. It is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the U.S. annually, with a lt7% 5-year survival rate. Despite FDA-approved therapeutic regimens and marked improvements in medical and surgical care, no significant impact on PDAC patient survival has been achieved. In 2017, some 53,000 Americans ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Congestive heart failure (CHF) is one of the most serious medical challenges of our day. With 5 million Americans compromised by the ravages of this disabling disease, CHF is the leading cause of Medicare hospital admissions. The economic burden exceeds 40 billion annually. A comprehensive approach to this ominous healthcare threat includes prevention and earl ...