Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed machine learning models to enhance the accessibility and accuracy of acute kidney injury (AKI) testing.

Beta-lactam antibiotics account for the majority of antibiotics used worldwide. Resistance by beta-lactamase expression is a serious and growing threat. The typical workflow in a clinical microbiology laboratory leading to identification of antibiotic resistant organisms consists of 1) sample plating and mixed growth, 2) pathogen isolation and growth, 3) identification of the organism by biochemical tests or  Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Time of Flight (MALDI-TOF), and finally 4) observed growth in antibiotic containing media to determine antibiotic susceptibility/resistance patterns. This workflow requires 36 to 72 hours, involves multiple manual steps, and may not detect inducible resistance. The evolution and spread of antibiotic resistance among human pathogens represents a serious public health threat. Faster identification of the presence of antibiotic resistant organisms is a key component in the effort to reduce the spread of antibiotic resistance, as evidenced by the inclusion of diagnostic development in the CDC’s national strategy to combat antibiotic resistance. Given the clinical challenges that beta-lactamase expressing pathogens present, there is a clear need for faster identification to both enable effective treatment and to enact isolation precautions preventing further spread of resistant organisms Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:8.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:107%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}

Though guidewires are a common part of many endoscopic procedures as they help the scope reach its desired organ successfully, they are often difficult to maneuver due to their flexible and slippery construction. To combat this and assist physicians in rapid and effective endoscopic placement, researchers at UCI have developed a novel device which, by a simple turn of a finger wheel, allows the guidewires to be automatically and controllably advanced and retracted.

It has been shown that intensive BP lowering results in higher blood creatinine, which is typically indicative of decreased kidney function, thereby causing physicians concern that the patient is suffering from kidney damage. However, an increase in blood creatinine levels may also be due to changes in blood flow, a hemodynamic effect that is benign to the patient. Sodium glucose transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors are a relatively new class of drugs for treating type 2 diabetes, which have been shown to result in lower risk for progression to dialysis in long-term follow-up. However, when patients first begin a therapeutic regimen of SGLT2 inhibitors, they typically experience an acute change in blood flow to the kidney, which results in a rise in serum creatinine. This causes concerns to practitioners that the drug may be harming the kidneys, rather than being beneficial long term. While some patients may indeed experience intrinsic kidney damage due to marked reductions in blood flow, resulting in cessation of SGLT2 inhibitor therapy and the benefit associated therewith, there is currently no way to differentiate between these two patterns of creatinine change. Thus, a need exists for diagnostic test to differentiate intrinsic kidney damage from hemodynamic changes in patients taking SGLT2 inhibitors for diabetes mellitus.

This invention provides the first-in-class targeted therapy for acute kidney injury (AKI) by systemically administering protein WFDC2.

Researchers at UCLA have developed an approach to construct an embryonic kidney in vitro for the treatment of end stage renal disease.

Despite many recent improvements in dialysis treatment, End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) patients on hemodialysis continue to experience an annual mortality rate of approximately 20%, a rate worse than many cancers. Researchers at UCI have identified an association between increased levels of endocannabinoid (EC) in ESRD patients’ serum and decreased risk of death thereby providing a potential therapy to enhance survival times for patients.

Although kidney stones are a prevalent problem that affect more than 10% of the population and cost the US economy upwards of $10 billion annually, the complete removal of stone fragments is difficult to achieve without surgical interventions. Researchers at UCI have developed a novel vacuum endoscope which, when combined with standard kidney stone ablation procedures, is capable of completely removing the resulting fragments.

UCSF researchers have developed a novel small molecule drug that specifically targets and inhibits SLC26A3 (DRA), an anion exchanger whose inhibition is expected to have therapeutic benefit in constipation and oxalate kidney stone disease.

UCLA researchers in the Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology have developed humanized antibody therapies for invasive prostate and bladder cancers that express N-cadherin.

UCLA researchers in the Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery have developed a novel microsensor system for unobtrusive monitoring of oral pH and electrolytes levels. This system is integrated into a data analysis and feedback network for disease prevention and precision care.

A pressure sensing device that provides feedback during the insertion of a ureteral access sheath to prevent unwanted damage to the wall of the ureter.

Medical devices are susceptible to contamination by harmful microbes, such as bacteria and fungi, which form biofilms on device surfaces. These biofilms are often resistant to antibiotics and other current treatments, resulting in over 2 million people per year suffering from diseases related to these contaminating microbes. Death rates for many of these diseases are high, often exceeding 50%. Researchers at UCI have developed a novel anti-bacterial and anti-fungal biocomposite that incorporates a nanopillared surface structure that can be applied as a coating to medical devices.

A microfluidic device that separates single cells from whole tissue in a rapid and gentle manner using hydrodynamic fluid flow. The separated single cell suspensions can then be used in tissue engineering applications, regenerative medicine and the study of cancer.

Media that contains nutrients and growth factors is necessary to grow all types of cells, a process that is widely used in many fields of research. Such media should be routinely changed either to different media or a fresh batch of the same media. This change currently involves either using a pipette to transfer cells from their current dish of media to a new dish, or aspirating the media out of the dish and replacing it with new media. Both methods have inherent risks to stressing and damaging the cells. Researchers at UCI have developed a unique dish for growing cells that allows for safer aspiration of the old media, which reduces stress and damage to the cells.

No vaccines exist against the common sexually-transmitted disease, Chlamydia. The current invention is a novel vaccination formulation wherein fragments from two different microbial proteins, one each from a Chlamydia species and a Neisseria species are fused together. This novel fusion protein is proposed as a robust vaccine to provide protection against Chlamydia.

Individuals with genetic immunodeficiency, as well as patients with HIV, cancer, and those undergoing chemotherapy or high risk surgery, are at increased risk for infection. C1q, an important component of the immune system, is known to enhance phagocytosis (cell ingestion of harmful bacteria or other materials). Scientists at UCI have developed antibodies to the receptor for C1q, C1qRp, to be used as a target for prophylactic treatments in populations at high risk of infection.

The invention consists of a multi-channel, droplet-generating microfluidic device with a strategically placed feature.The feature vibrates in order to counteract particle-trapping micro-vortices formed within the device.Counteracting these vortices allows for single particle encapsulation in the droplets formed by the device and thereby makes this technology a good candidate for use in single cell diagnostics and drug delivery systems.

Soft-tissue injuries and organ transplantation are common in modern combat scenarios. Organs and tissues harvested for transplantation need to be preserved during transport, which can be very difficult. Micro and nanobubbles (MNBs) offer a new technology that could supply oxygenation to such tissues prior to transplantation, thus affording better recovery and survival of patients. Described here is a novel device capable of producing MNB solutions that can be used to preserve viability and function of such organs/tissue. Additionally, these solutions may be used with negative pressure wound therapy to heal soft-tissue wounds.

UCLA researchers have designed a device that delivers local radiation to the bladder lumen limiting harmful off-target effects. This technology enables the use of radiotherapy as a safe and effective treatment for early stage bladder cancer patients.

Gastrointestinal cancers are very difficult to diagnosis due to poor biopsy and diagnosis techniques. The invention is a device that is minimally invasive and improves biopsy technique by enabling the physician to visualize a tissue in real time prior to its biopsy. This allows for improved biopsy collection and thereby increases the diagnosis accuracy.

Brief description not available

Currently, patients suffering from diseased and injured organs can be treated with transplanted organs; however, there is a severe shortage of donor organs.  In the United States alone, more than 114,000 people are on transplant waiting lists and have a probability of less than 35 percent of receiving an organ transplant within five years of being added to the list.  Many of the organs in question are branched epithelial organs. Tissue engineering has long held promise for building new organs to functional replace the ones in patients with organ injuries or end-stage organ failure.  However, one major obstacle that remains is the construction of complex 3D functional vascularized epithelial tissues (e.g. lung, kidney, pancreas with both exocrine and endocrine function, breast, and salivary gland, prostate).  Many solutions have been proposed, including bioprinting and assembly of cells around extracellular scaffolds of existing organs, but the complex three-dimensional physiology of branched organs cannot be reproduced.  Importantly, a very promising area of organ-tissue engineering is the production of vascularized proto-organs or biological tissues to analyze organ toxicity from drugs and environmental toxins.  Engineered tissues may offer more accurate predictions of the side effects of potential therapeutic agents because they contain human cells. 

End stage renal disease (ESRD) affects approximately 400,000 individuals in the United States alone, and this number continues to increase rapidly.  While dialysis provides life-saving treatment to patients with ESRD and/or can bridge the time between kidney failure and the receipt of a transplant, only 78% of patients are reported to survive the first year of dialysis and the 10-year survival rate is only 9%.  With over 60,000 people waiting for kidney transplants, the improvement in short-term allograft survival has shifted attention to the two major remaining challenges in kidney transplantation: the shortage of organs and the lack of improvement in the rate of allograft failure after the first post-transplant year.  To address the shortage of donor organs, a variety of tissue-engineering strategies are being pursued, including the extracorporeal renal tubule assist device, the transplantation of renal primordia, the injection of stem-like cells into diseased kidneys and the in vitro engineering of kidneys.  The engineering of a kidney-like tissue from cells with appropriate 3D spatial relationships of nephrons has yet to be achieved.

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have developed a novel high resolution imaging technique, referred to as Photo-Magnetic Imaging (PMI), that combines the abilities of optical and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging systems. Images are created with PMI by heating tissue with a light (e.g. laser) and measuring the resulting temperature change with MR Thermometry. This change in temperature can then be related to a tissue’s absorption, scattering, and metabolic properties. PMI addresses the limitations of current optical imaging techniques by providing a repeatable, non-contact, high resolution optical image with increased quantitative accuracy. This technique can be used for a wide-range of applications including but not limited to imaging of small animals for research purposes. This technique may also be used in imaging the tissue and organs of a patient.