{"id":1926,"date":"2006-07-16T15:19:22","date_gmt":"2006-07-16T19:19:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/?p=1926"},"modified":"2014-12-16T15:20:00","modified_gmt":"2014-12-16T20:20:00","slug":"fast-track","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2006\/07\/fast-track\/","title":{"rendered":"On the Fast Track"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Undergraduate entrepreneurs collaborated on designing a non-invasive kidney test and on developing a business plan for it.<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1927\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: 1034px\"><a href=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/makingwaves06.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1927\" src=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/makingwaves06-1024x680.jpg\" alt=\"An interest in wireless embedded systems drew Richard Boyer \u201907 (left) to become part of a Whiting School student team that designed a device to detect kidney failure for patients in intensive care. The team\u2019s adviser was Derek M. Fine, a Johns Hopkins nephrologist (right).\" width=\"1024\" height=\"680\" srcset=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/makingwaves06-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/makingwaves06-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/makingwaves06.jpg 1629w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An interest in wireless embedded systems drew Richard Boyer \u201907 (left) to become part of a Whiting School student team that designed a device to detect kidney failure for patients in intensive care. The team\u2019s adviser was Derek M. Fine, a Johns Hopkins nephrologist (right).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>DETECTED EARLY<\/strong>, kidney failure can be reversed. But the existing blood-based testing can take 24 to 48 hours\u2014a dangerously long time. To reduce that time significantly for patients in intensive care, two undergraduates in the Whiting School of Engineering collaborated on the design of a unique and highly promising device. Richard Boyer \u201907 is double majoring in Biomedical Engineering (BME) and Electrical and Computer Engineering, and is a student assistant in the Pulmonary Physiology Laboratory at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Chris Komanski \u201907 is a BME major. Their approach to addressing the problem of acute renal failure (ARF) combined Boyer\u2019s interest in wireless embedded systems with Komanski\u2019s knowledge of optics.<\/p>\n<p>In high school, Komanski devoted more than 2,000 hours to researching a prototype non-invasive urinalysis machine at the University of Central Florida\u2019s Center for Education and Research in Optics and Lasers. Winner of 21 science fairs, Komanski was named the first Ying Scholar, and Hopkins awarded him a Bloomberg Scholarship.<\/p>\n<p>As freshmen, Boyer and Komanski were part of the BME Design Team, a yearlong course, where they explored real-time urinalysis to detect ARF. They were mentored by Seth Townsend \u201904, at the time a senior. The team was directed by Robert Allen, associate research professor in the Whiting School, and advised by Johns Hopkins Medicine nephrologist Derek M. Fine. Townsend, a BME major who had no research experience before coming to Hopkins, as a senior was named to the second team of USA Today\u2019s 2004 All- USA Academic Team and is now a graduate student at MIT.<\/p>\n<p>Kidney function can be seriously impaired by a number of medical conditions and their treatments, from heart failure to sepsis, diuretics to chemotherapy. It\u2019s estimated that 8 to 10 percent of intensive care patients experience ARF, and about 30,000 die from it in the United States every year. In the early stages of ARF, telltale bio-markers show up in the patient\u2019s urine.<\/p>\n<p>Boyer and Komanski realized that a non-invasive, noncontaminating way to look for these markers could be effective. They came up with a wireless urinalysis device that \u201clooks\u201d at urine as it passes through a catheter and does a spectroscopic analysis. By detecting the markers in an hour or less, this technology makes it possible to adjust medications and otherwise reverse the lethal progression of ARF.<\/p>\n<p>The project was funded by the National Kidney Foundation and endorsed by the National Institutes of Health. Along with co-inventors Townsend and Fine, Boyer and Komanski have filed a provisional patent, developed a business plan, and formed a corporation called Renal Diagnostic, Inc. They expect to begin a pilot study soon, followed by clinical trials at Hopkins.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking about his experience as an Engineering student, Boyer says, \u201cIt gives you a real challenge if you\u2019re looking for one, and helps you find your niche.\u201d Komanski is grateful for the style of mentoring he has received at the Whiting School. \u201cThey let me answer my own questions,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>Both students wasted no time in coming up with good answers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Undergraduate entrepreneurs collaborated on designing a non-invasive kidney test and on developing a business plan for it. DETECTED EARLY, kidney failure can be reversed. But the existing blood-based testing can take 24 to 48 hours\u2014a dangerously long time. To reduce that time significantly for patients in intensive care, two undergraduates in the Whiting School of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1927,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-making-waves","issue-summer-2006"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>On the Fast Track - JHU Engineering Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2006\/07\/fast-track\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"On the Fast Track - JHU Engineering Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Undergraduate entrepreneurs collaborated on designing a non-invasive kidney test and on developing a business plan for it. 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