Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

From the University of Memphis:

Two University of Memphis researchers recently received a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant for their work creating an innovative wearable medical device, CanAiry, designed to monitor environmental exposure and assess respiratory response.

Dr. Maryam Karimi, Associate Professor in the School of Public Health, and Dr. Rouzbeh Nazari, Chair and Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, were awarded a Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant, which will support the development of the groundbreaking device that checks environmental exposure and gauges respiratory response, specifically targeting patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).

According to the National Institutes of Health, more than 11 million Americans are living with COPD, and Tennessee has one of the highest COPD rates in the country, CDC data show.

COPD exacerbations lead to 1.5 million emergency room visits annually, contributing to over $24 billion in healthcare costs. Most of these visits could be avoided with better remote patient management and telehealth solutions. CanAiry aims to address this gap by providing a state-of-the-art, remote monitoring system focusing on prevention and early intervention. This device tracks personal exposure to pollutants and respiratory triggers, assesses lung function, and transmits critical health data to healthcare providers in real-time.

From Vanderbilt University:

Abhishek Dubey, Associate Professor of Computer Science and Electrical and Computer Engineering at Vanderbilt University, is leading a consortium comprised of several different universities and regional transit agencies that has received more than $8 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation to accelerate artificial intelligence-driven multimodal transit operations across Tennessee.

The funding is part of more than $96.5 million in grants issued by DOT’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to 16 states for 20 projects under the Advanced Transportation Technology and Innovation (ATTAIN) program. The grants are intended to fund technology-based and multimodal solutions that aim to improve travel on highway and transit systems nationwide, including in disadvantaged communities that have lacked investment and resources.

In Tennessee, the funding will be used for the PATH-TN project, which stands for Partnership for Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven Multimodal Transportation Services Integration in Tennessee Cities. Targeting the state’s four largest cities – Memphis, Nashville, Chattanooga, and Knoxville – the project aims to address declining ridership, rising operational costs, labor shortages, limited coverage, infrequent service, and a lack of options for captive riders.

To address these issues, proposed solutions include: implementing AI to integrate various modes of transportation, including fixed-route buses, microtransit, and park-and-ride facilities; developing standardized data formats and interfaces for collecting, processing, and analyzing data to optimize transit operations; using real-time data to adapt microtransit zones, reassign vehicle resources, and enable dynamic route planning; and creating a repository for sharing anonymized data to promote transparency and facilitate research.

From Florida State University:

Dozens of Florida State University (FSU) researchers met recently to figure out how they could collaborate on digital health innovations.

“Collaborative Collision: Digital Health,” organized by the Office of Research Development (ORD), connected experts with specialties in health care and technology. Researchers created detailed research profiles that highlighted skills and current projects to make it easier for attendees to navigate networking opportunities for future projects that cross academic disciplines.

“Digital Health is an area of research excellence at FSU, and our scientists are using these technologies to bring better health care options to the people in our communities who need it most,” said Nicole Viverito, ORD program director. “We have research teams leveraging digital health tools to address gaps in care across the entire lifespan, from young children to older adults.”

Collaborative Collision events connect faculty from various disciplines who share research interests. This event is another example of how FSU is supporting the future of health care through FSU Health, a bold initiative to build an ecosystem that will help improve health and health care in North Florida.

“These events have generated new partnerships, publications and successful research grants, and we’re confident this event will do the same in digital health,” said Vice President for Research Stacey S. Patterson. “The interdisciplinary discussions we’re seeing today are key to addressing the challenges in this field.”

From North Carolina State University:

New research from the Poole College of Management at North Carolina State University supports the idea that entrepreneurs should talk less and listen more.

“It is what happens before the pitch, and to some degree after the pitch, that matters most,” said Jeff Pollack, Lynn T. Clark II Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship. “There is such a focus on being prepared to give a passionate pitch…this is taught in classrooms, portrayed in the media and in mentoring that we sometimes lose focus on what is really important. And that’s listening, and not talking all the time.”

Entrepreneurs who develop a listening capability for themselves and across their ventures are more likely to be able to grow their business, survive, and succeed, according to a forthcoming paper from Pollack and his co-author, Dean Shepherd, Ray and Milann Siegfried Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business. The paper is titled “A Listening Model Of Venture Growth: Entrepreneurs’ Listening Abilities And Ventures’ Listening Capabilities,” which is in-press with the Journal of Business Venturing.

From the University of Akron:

Technology developed at The University of Akron (UA) is part of a medical device included in TIME’s Best Inventions, the magazine’s annual list of top inventions.

The magazine’s 2024 list includes a device known as Amplio, which is the world’s first wearable 3D full-color surgical microscope. It is a platform technology with capabilities that include surgical magnification, fluorescence imaging, night vision, surgical navigation, computer vision, artificial intelligence and augmented reality.

The UA technology in Amplio, developed by Yang Liu — who was an Assistant Professor in UA’s Department of Biomedical Engineering from 2013 to 2018 — improves the surgical lenses, known as loupes, that surgeons use during procedures. The improved lenses offer enhanced surgical visualization with microscope functionality and optimized real-time imaging. Liu and his team at UA also developed the initial prototypes to prove the concept and demonstrate the feasibility.

“We are pleased to see Amplio recognized as one of the year’s top inventions,” said Suzanne Bausch, Vice President of Research and Business Engagement and President of The University of Akron Research Foundation (UARF). “This device will be a game-changing piece of equipment for surgeons. The University of Akron’s technology plays an integral role in the device.”

The start-up company Unify Medical, which is bringing the Amplio device to market, has an exclusive license for the technology from UA through the UARF.

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