Anticipatory Medical and Cellular Devices

In a famous advertising campaign from the late 1980s, an elderly woman lies on the floor near her walker and calls out: "I've fallen and I can't get up." By pushing a button on the device that she wears around her neck, the woman is able to summon help.

Researchers working under the Anticipatory Medical & Cellular Devices platform envision a similarly portable, wireless device -- essentially, a medical PDA that could be worn on a belt. But this one is so attuned to the body's signals that it could detect a life-threatening event, like a fall, before it happens -- and stimulate nerves and muscles to restore normal balance and movement.

Such new classes of medical devices might prevent the heart from going into an arrhythmia, cause insulin to be released inside the body to ward off diabetic shock, or even utilize programmable cells to repair internal errors such as genetic disorders or to fight disease.

Making the move from static to dynamic medicine

Far from being flat or predictable, a healthy body's output signals are noisy and complex. Heartbeats, for instance, are surprisingly variable – much more like the variation of a musical score than the steady beat of a metronome. That complexity allows for a nimble response to the body's ever-changing natural rhythms.

Conversely, any loss of complexity in heartbeat, breathing rate, or brain electrical activity may indicate impending trouble, and offer untapped opportunities for medical diagnosis and therapy. Wyss scientists are developing new computational techniques that reveal subtle variations in these physiological rhythms, which could indicate clinical problems from frailty in the elderly to heart arrhythmias and breathing problems in intensive care patients. These predictive diagnostics could be integrated with miniaturized, wearable devices that deliver physical, magnetic, electrical, optical, or chemical stimuli to the body, thus "rebooting" and restoring a healthy, normal state.

Fighting disease and infection

Our ability to engineer complex gene circuits and cellular devices by assembling interchangeable, standardized and well-characterized "bio-parts" opens up a world of possibilities in fighting disease and infection and helping those in clinical need. This effort will produce a new class of medical devices at the interface of engineering, chemistry, and genetic engineering.

Wyss scientists are designing unique and controllable devices that can sense, probe, and dynamically track cellular physiology and function. Having the ability to process cellular information, these complex devices can intervene to influence and tune gene expression. Using this approach, a variety of parts, networks, and devices from genetic sensors to RNA switches are being constructed to form the basis for antibiotic therapies and cancer treatments.

Avoiding falls

Shoes with vibrating insoles are being developed to improve the gait of elderly patients. Learn more...