Classroom to Clinic: Merging Education and Research to Efficiently Prototype Medical Devices

Nevan C Hanumara; Nikolai D Begg; Conor Walsh; David Custer; Rajiv Gupta; Lynn R Osborn; Alexander H Slocum

doi:10.1109/JTEHM.2013.2271897

Classroom to Clinic: Merging Education and Research to Efficiently Prototype Medical Devices

IEEE J Transl Eng Health Med. 2013 Jul 24:1:4700107. doi: 10.1109/JTEHM.2013.2271897. eCollection 2013.

Authors

Nevan C Hanumara¹, Nikolai D Begg¹, Conor Walsh², David Custer¹, Rajiv Gupta³, Lynn R Osborn⁴, Alexander H Slocum¹

Affiliations

¹ Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Mechanical Engineering Cambridge MA 02139 USA.
² Harvard University School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Cambridge MA 02138 USA.
³ Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Radiology Boston MA 02114 USA.
⁴ CIMIT Massachusetts General Hospital Boston MA 02116 USA.

Abstract

Innovation in patient care requires both clinical and technical skills, and this paper presents the methods and outcomes of a nine-year, clinical-academic collaboration to develop and evaluate new medical device technologies, while teaching mechanical engineering. Together, over the course of a single semester, seniors, graduate students, and clinicians conceive, design, build, and test proof-of-concept prototypes. Projects initiated in the course have generated intellectual property and peer-reviewed publications, stimulated further research, furthered student and clinician careers, and resulted in technology licenses and start-up ventures.

Keywords: Biomedical engineering education; mechanical design; mechatronics; medical devices.

Grants and funding

This work was supported in part by CIMIT under U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity Cooperative Agreement W81XWH-09-2-0001 with additional support from MIT Mechanical Engineering, Ximedica, Boston Scientific, Intuitive Surgical, National Instruments, Hoya, MIT Energy Initiative, Timken, and the Gordon-MIT Leadership Program, and the MIRROR project funded by the Fondazione Monte dei Paschi.