A new paper from the Medical Device Design Group entitled Metallic microneedles with interconnected porosity: A scalable platform for biosensing and drug delivery has been published in Acta Biomaterialia. In this paper, Ellen Cahill et al. describe a novel fabrication process for porous metallic microneedles and subsequently explore their use in biosensing and drug delivery applications.
A new paper from the Medical Device Design Group entitled Additive Manufacture of Composite Soft Pneumatic Actuators has been published in Soft Robotics. In the article, Oisín Byrne et al. describe a direct additive manufacturing method for composite material soft pneumatic actuators that are capable of performing a range of programmable motions using an affordable, open-source, desktop three-dimensional (3D) printer.
Paper Access: UCD Research Repository
Second year biomedical engineering PhD student Oisín Byrne has been announced as the winner of the BOC Gases Symposium 2018. He presented a pitch of his work to a multidisciplinary audience of engineering staff and students from the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering on March 12th.
His presentation entitled “3D printing of polymers onto the abluminal surface of cylindrical tissue samples” secured him the BOC Gases sponsored prize fund of €1300 and consequently, he participated in the prestigious Sir Bernard Crossland Symposium which was hosted by UCD this year on April 25th.
Competing with 23 posters from other Mechanical Engineering Institutions across Ireland, he received 3rd prize at this event and €200. As a member of Dr. O’ Cearbhaill’s Medical Device Design group, the aim of Oisín’s project (co-funded by Cúram, the SFI Centre for Research in Medical Devices and Neograft Technologies Inc.) is to provide an intra-operative method for improving the mechanical performance and longevity of saphenous vein grafts that are routinely used in Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG) procedures. He seeks to harness the unique benefits of additive manufacturing technology to provide a patient-specific graft reinforcement method in order to improve graft performance compared to the current state of the art reinforcing methods.
Group member and PhD student Ellen Cahill won the best ‘Devices’ presentation at the annual Bioengineering in Ireland (BINI) conference. Ellen’s presentation entitled ‘Porous Metal Microneedle Patch Platform for Transdermal Drug Delivery and Interstitial Fluid Collection’ detailed her PhD work and results on this exciting metallic microneedle device.
PhD students Oisín Byrne and Kevin Krieger were also in attendance at the conference and both presented on their respective PhD works on ‘3D Printing of Exo-Stents onto Saphenous Vein Grafts’ and ‘Rapid Fabrication of Customisable Microneedle Moulds Using Low Cost SLA ‘Print and Fill’ Technique’. aDr. Eoin O’Cearbhaill spoke to PhD and Post-Docs about his career to date weaving through academia and industry during the Career Development session. UCD was also represented at the conference by PhD students Karen Fitzgearld and Antonia Trotta and Assistant Professor Dr. Aisling Ní Annaidh.
The UCD Medical Device Design Group has openings for two Postdoctoral Researchers to work on the development of patient-specific bioresorbable paediatric 3D printed vascular stents for the treatment of aortic coarctation.
More info on these positions can be found here.
Kevin Krieger receiving his award from Professor Michael Gilchrist, Head of School
A research project developing a new microneedle platform technology has won a University College Dublin (UCD) commercialisation award.
Group member Ellen Cahill, a PhD student in the UCD Medical Device Design Group is working on this technology with Dr Eoin O’Cearbhaill and Dr Shane Keaveney.
Microneedle patches are microsystem devices which are commonly used to painlessly pierce an individual’s skin creating a pathway for therapeutic drug delivery.
Many such needles have been designed for use in vaccine delivery. However there is an industry demand for microneedles which can deliver a slow, sustained release of therapeutic drugs through a cost-effective, scalable process.
To solve this issue the team has designed and developed a new type of microneedle. This new microneedle platform technology has the potential to deliver slow-release therapeutics with enhanced mechanical performance compared to currently available microneedles on the market.
Ms Cahill was the overall winner of the 2016 UCD MedTech Innovation Sprint Programme, a 1-day initiative designed and delivered by UCD’s technology transfer and enterprise development teams at NovaUCD.
Each 1-day innovation sprint programme aims to encourage the development of commercial outputs, arising from specific research areas, by engaging with researchers at an earlier stage in the commercialisation process.
Ellen said, “The aim of my research at UCD is focused on developing a platform technology which offers a smart way of delivering next-generation therapeutics through minimally invasive approaches.”
The team will continue to develop this microneedle platform while putting it through rigorous testing to ensure that the best possible product is brought forward.
This research has been supported by Science Foundation Ireland through a Technology Innovation Development Award, the Naughton Foundation and a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship.
MDD would like to thank UCDNOVA for the continued support and encouragement in moving research into real world applications.
More info can be found here.
The UCD VentureLaunch Accelerator Programme, an intensive 3 month workshop held at NovaUCD, culminated on Wednesday night in the announcement of the winner of the UCD start-up of the year award. This title was won by EpiCor Therapeutics, who are developing new disease-modifying treatments that target the mechanisms underlying the development of heart failure.
Members of the Medical Device Design Group Dr. Nicky Bertollo and Dr. Eoin O’Cearbhaill, together with Dr. Seamus Morris, took part in the 2016 UCD VentureLaunch Accelerator Programme with their start-up Latch Medical. The start-up is developing a revolutionary tissue anchorage system based on microtechnology.
More information on the night, and details of the technologies being developed by other early-stage UCD start-ups participating in the program can be found here.
Summer research intern Ciara Giles Doran received the Silver Medal Award at the 2016 UCD Student Summer Research Awards (SSRA) Symposium, which took place on Thursday, October 13 th in the U.C.D. O’Brien Centre for Science. Starting in June 2016, Ciara worked under the supervision of Dr. Eoin O’Cearbhaill, and co-supervision of Dr. Shane Keaveny as part of the UCD Medical Device Design Group. She presented her project “Development of Durable, User-Specific, 3D-Printed Ankle Foot Orthosis” as one of eight finalists from a pool of over 100 research projects. The SSRA program takes a multidisciplinary approach, providing undergraduate Health Science and Biomedical Engineering students an opportunity to undertake an 8-week supervised research project within UCD
laboratories and/or affiliated clinical sites.
Ciara’s research was funded by the Health Research Board.
Group member Kevin Krieger presented a poster on his PhD project entitled ‘Development of Flexible Microneedle Electrode for Surface EMG’ at the XXI Conference of the International Society of Electrophysiology and Kinesiology (ISEK). This biannual conference took place between July 6th to 8th in Chicago, Illinois.
The International Society of Electrophysiology and Kinesiology (ISEK) is a multidisciplinary organisation composed of members from all over the world in health-related fields and basic science with a common desire to study human movement and the neuromuscular system. The purpose of the Society is to promote research and teaching in the disciplines of Electrophysiology and Kinesiology in normal, experimental and pathological conditions of the sensory and motor systems, with emphasis on the interactive use of the two disciplines.
Kevin’s research is funded by the IRC Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship and the NUI Travelling Studentship schemes.
