Invention Description Lyophilization is a critical process for stabilizing reagents in point-of-care (POC) diagnostics, effectively eliminating the need for cold chain storage and preventing liquid evaporation. While this technology is essential for developing robust field-deployable devices, current industry standards are limited to producing reagents...

Invention Description Lab-on-a-chip technology and microfluidic diagnostic devices often rely on complex mechanical or electrical systems to manipulate fluid, making them costly and bulky. These components may limit portability, decrease operational lifetime, and prevent widespread use by untrained personnel or patients at the point of care or at home....

Invention Description Rapid and reliable nucleic acid assays are critical for diagnosing infectious diseases at the point of need, yet most systems rely on complex, expensive instrumentation and trained personnel. These requirements limit access to timely diagnostics in low-resource, remote, or decentralized settings. Many platforms typically require...

Implementing liquid-based assays, such as PCR and LAMP, is difficult in POC microfluidic devices, due to bubble formation. To mitigate this, auxiliary metering systems or actuators are required to regulate consistent flow rates. This can make the microfluidic device more complicated to operate, increases cost, and limits rapid prototyping, ultimately...

Fluorescence based point-of-care molecular diagnostic systems are ubiquitous in healthcare. However, many tests require that the sample be sent to a reference laboratory and read by trained medical staff which can be expensive and result in delayed analysis. Portable systems have been developed, however, detecting multiple biomarkers requires a different...

Noninvasive sampling is critical for certain patient populations, such as hemophiliacs, neonates, elderly or immunocompromised individuals, especially if they require daily monitoring. Blood sampling is painful, inconvenient and often difficult and increases the risk of exposure to infectious agents, which can be devastating to immunocompromised populations....

Background The increasing frequency and severity of wildfires creates difficulty for power engineers to decide on the best course of action for ensuring reliable and resilient system operation. To enable informed decision-making in the presence of active wildfire risks, knowledge of the local environmental conditions surrounding the electric power...

There are numerous medical issues which are treated with simple biomechanical implants that regulate fluid pressure and flow (e.g. valves and shunts). Because there are moving parts to these implants, they are vulnerable to complications, malfunctions and biological/mechanical/parametric failures. Currently, the only way to determine if a biomechanical...

Passive, wireless stimulators have received significant interest due to their ability to provide therapy and rehabilitation by targeting an organ with monophasic or biphasic stimulation pulses. Wireless stimulators are advantageous because they reduce the risk of infection and inflammation by eliminating wires that protrude through the skin. Extending...

Background Small-scale fisheries cumulatively account for about half of the production of the fishing industry. These coastal fisheries commonly use gillnets, which are low cost, high yield, and easy to maintain. Unfortunately, gillnets result in considerable non-target species (bycatch) mortality which can negatively impact local ecology and fishing...