Over 100,000+ Americans are diagnosed with End Stage Renal Disease annually, and 70,000+ begin hemodialysis through a central venous catheter (CVC). Hemodialysis filters waste from blood and requires reliable blood flow of 300 to 500 mL/min through a CVC. Unfortunately, 33% of hemodialysis patients require catheter removal due to inadequate blood flow which leads to delays and emergency catheter exchanges. The current gold standard for checking catheter function is the syringe test, where clinicians manually pull blood and judge resistance by feel. This method is highly operator dependent, meaning a catheter can pass the syringe test but still fail during treatment. CathAlert is a handheld device that detects quantitative changes in CVC flow with increasing occlusion. It standardizes flow testing which effectively eliminates unnecessary delays and emergent CVC exchanges.

TrueCycle is a minimally invasive biosensor that uses electrochemical impedance microscopy and molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) to monitor the female hormones estradiol and progesterone in the interstitial fluid.

Baseball’s unlimited scoring structure produces blowout games in which competitive tension can disappear early. In the 2023 MLB season, 19.9% of all games ended with a margin of at least six runs, meaning that nearly one in five contests became effectively non-competitive. Motivated by this imbalance, we propose the One Shot Rule, a scoring constraint inspired by lead-limiting ideas in possession-based sports. Under this rule, once a team takes the lead in a half-inning, it is permitted only one additional run-scoring plate appearance; subsequent scoring opportunities in that half-inning are suppressed. To evaluate the rule, we adopt a dual-methodology framework combining retrospective re-analysis of all 2,430 real MLB games from the 2023 season with a 10,000-game Monte Carlo simulation designed to estimate longer-run probabilistic effects. This framework allows us to examine both observed and simulated changes in blowout frequency, comeback potential, and competitive balance. We further analyze how the rule alters managerial incentives and offensive strategy, and we introduce a fan engagement metric to assess whether a closer, more suspenseful game structure may improve spectator experience.

Bladder stones develop when the bladder consistently fails to empty completely, causing residual urine to crystallize into concrete masses. Stones larger than 4cm require surgical intervention. Open surgery is highly invasive, as a large abdominal incision is made to extract intact stones. Urologists prefer minimally invasive endoscopic approaches, specifically cystolitholopaxy, which requires urethral insertion to access and fragment urinary calculi.

However, surgeons face a critical trade-off between procedural efficiency and patient safety. Due to a lack of active suction, unpredictable fragment migration, and clogging against the bladder wall, many doctors revert to highly invasive methods in the interest of time. Our solution is a multi-functional instrument that seamlessly enters through a nephroscope and selectively aspirates all stone fragments while actively protecting the bladder wall from trauma. By addressing these surgical bottlenecks, our medical device optimizes procedure time without compromising patient safety, ensuring successful removal of large, highly problematic bladder stones.