Research Biotechnology

Artificial Lung Development

Acute respiratory failure affects the lives of over half a million patients each year, with significant mortality rates. While some patients can be treated using conventional respirators, which ventilate the injured lungs, many patients cannot. Providing breathing support independent of the lungs is the principal focus of Dr. Federspiel's research group in the Artificial Lung Laboratory of the McGowan Center for Artificial Organ Development. His group is developing next generation artificial lungs or blood oxygenators, including small implantable devices for temporary support and wearable devices for longer-term support.

The laboratory's flagship project is the Hattler Catheter, a unique artificial lung inserted as a venous catheter to provide temporary breathing for patients with acute lung failure. The Hattler Catheter project and other related projects in the Artificial Lung Lab focus on novel techniques for improving mass transfer in artificial lungs, so that more gas transfer can be achieved with smaller devices. Enhanced mass transfer is not only a key to implantable oxygenators, where anatomy can impose significant constraints, but is also pertinent to next generation, wearable artificial lungs.

Control-Relevant in silico Modeling for Diabetes

Diabetes mellitus is the single most costly chronic disease in the United States. The key to treating the insulin-dependent form of the disease is to control blood glucose within a fairly narrow range. One approach is to remove the patient from the insulin administration "control loop", and use instead an implantable insulin delivery device containing three primary components: a glucose sensor, a pump mechanism, and a computer algorithm which calculates an insulin delivery rate from a glucose measurement.

The synthesis of this computer algorithm is a focus of Professor Parker's group. By developing a mathematical model of the type I diabetic patient, potential therapeutic strategies can be efficiently tested in silico, as opposed to the expensive alternative of preliminary animal and patient testing. An additional benefit is the ability to test various glucose control algorithms on a "simulated population" to test the effects of inter- and intrapatient uncertainty on the controller performance.

Simulation results for an individualized therapy (controller tuned for the specific patient) have demonstrated glucose control superior to that achieved by the pancreas in the healthy human patient. When tested on a simulated population that encompassed significant interpatient variability, the glucose levels were maintained within the desired normoglycemic range. From these exciting results, a device based on this algorithm is now ready for animal trials.

Department Research is Commercialized

Scientists have for many years been attempting to utilize enzyme catalysis outside the cellular environment. Some of the more successful endeavors include enzymatic laundry detergents, contact lens cleaning solutions, and food processing. However, when one considers the number of different types of reactions that are enzyme catalyzed, it is striking that so few commercial examples can be cited. Brief catalytic lifetimes, environmental and thermal sensitivity, a lack for re-usability, and general applicability issues limit the utility of many enzymes.

Technological developments that address each of these shortcomings have opened a new paradigm for industrial catalysis. Using catalytic polymers that are synthesized by combining a relatively hydrophilic polyurethane prepolymer and an aqueous solution, we have been able to prepare a unique urethane foam. Control of the porosity and physical properties of the polymer is facilitated by introducing additives such as surfactants. The entire synthetic process is complete in approximately 10 minutes.

Biotechnology Faculty

Areas of Research

Research Facilities

State-of-the-art academic laboratories and centers