Research to Product Case Study:
Trans-Ocular Bioimpedance (TOBI) - Seeing the Brain Through the Eyes
TOBI is a wearable device that allows caregivers to non-invasively evaluate and monitor a patient’s intracranial pressure. The combined efforts of the Weil Institute’s core units fueled TOBI down the road from idea to licensed product. Scroll down to learn how each core unit provided support.
MASSEY GRAND CHALLENGE AWARDS
2015 - Collected initial data in large animal model of TBI
PI: Krishna Rajajee, MBBS
Co-PI: Kevin Ward, MD; Hakam Tiba, MD, MS; Barry Belmont, PhD; Brendan McCracken,
2017 - Clinical testing in patients and prototype development
PI: Hakam Tiba, MD, MS
Co-PI: Kevin Ward, MD; Ashwin Belle, PhD; Sardar Ansari, PhD; Craig Williamson, MD; Brendan McCracken, Amanda Pennington
Wrote, edited, and prepared budget for proposal
Facilitated the routing of the application through the ORSP
Secured $1.5M Department of Defense grant
Performed lab experiments to assess the use of Trans-Ocular Bioimpedance as a non-invasive measurement that can track physiological changes associated with TBI such as intracranial pressure (ICP), cerebral blood flow, cerebrovascular auto-regulation
Verified compliance with UM, FDA, and Department of Defense regulations and training
Retrieved informed consent from patients and families for participation
Collected data from patients using the prototype
Provided reports to the team, IRB and sponsored tracking successes and adverse events
Captured high-fidelity, de-identified physiological data and waveforms from recruited patients in the ICU
Stored, processed, and analyzed data
Advised PI with follow-on funding opportunities
Served as a liaison between the PI, Office of Technology Transfer, and a prototyping company
Secured 2 institutional awards as well as an add-on award from the Department of Defense to develop the prototype
TOBI as of 2021
In July of 2020, the TOBI team published a manuscript in the Journal of Clinical Monitoring and Computing titled “Trans-ocular Brain Impedance Index for Assessment of Cerebral Autoregulation in a Porcine Model of Cerebral Hemodynamic Perturbation”
The TOBI team is currently working with Triple Ring , a prototyping company, to develop a new TOBI device. This device will use tetra-polar arrangement instead of bi-polar to improve signal quality.
The team also received an award through the 2020 Massey Grand Challenge enabling the development of an algorithm that measures intracranial pressure in real time.