The Ohio Third Frontier Commission has awarded $6 million to two teams led by Case Western Reserve University that are developing new medical technology, as well as more than $1 million in other awards meant to support high-tech projects and internships in Northeast Ohio. The first CWRU team received $3 million, which it will use…
DetailsProsthetic arms are getting ever more sophisticated. Now they just need a sense of touch. The Modular Prosthetic Limb will help patients to feel and manipulate objects just as they would with a native hand. Sitting motionless in her wheelchair, paralyzed from the neck down by a stroke, Cathy Hutchinson seems to take no notice…
DetailsCWRU Study of BrainGate Could Help Paralyzed Patients Regain Movement A group of engineers at Case Western Reserve University, whose goal is to help people with paralysis regain the use of their limbs, is launching a clinical trial to study a system that will measure how these people’s brains communicate movement. The system,…
DetailsFinancial planner Scott Fessler was a highly energetic, athletic young father when at the age of 33, he was in a near-fatal motorcycle crash. Scott suffered fractures to his cervical vertebrae, resulting in paralysis from the neck down. Immediately after the July 2006 accident, Scott underwent spinalsurgery to fuse his C4-C6 vertebrae. He suffers chronic…
DetailsThe timing could not have been more eerie. It was the night of Friday the 13th in 1998, under the light of the full moon, when then 26-year-old Jennifer French went on a midnight snowboarding run with some friends on a New England mountain. Everyone made it to the bottom of the slope – except…
DetailsCase Western Reserve University’s undergraduate biomedical engineering program jumped to eighth nationally in U.S. News & World Report’s 2013 college rankings, up from 13th last year. The rise coincides with the enrollment of the program’s largest first-year class in history—estimated to be more than double the size of recent classes. The first-year class across the university…
DetailsOne of the first patients to receive implanted muscle stimulation technology developed at the Cleveland FES (Functional Electrical Simulation) Center will represent the United States in sailing this weekend at the 2012 Paralympic Games. Jennifer French, a native of North Royalton, is among six U.S. athletes who begin racing Sept. 1 on the south coast…
DetailsDale thought he would never walk again after a fall from a ladder crushed his spine, leaving him paralyzed from the chest down. However, thanks to research conducted by Cleveland FES Center, Dale can not only stand but also ambulate. “I was at a loss because I was used to being busy and active and…
DetailsWhen potentially game-changing medical discoveries don’t fit easily into a standard business model, they can languish in a netherworld of limbo known as the Valley of Death. The term refers to the gap between a drug or medical device that holds promise for patients and the resources required to bring it to market. Recognizing their…
DetailsSix years ago, a spinal cord injury suffered in a motorcycle crash left Scott Fessler without use of his arms or legs. An innovative neuroprosthetic device, however, has helped him regain control in his hand. “It’s monumental to be able to just pick up your own fork and eat by yourself, to hold your own…
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