Enhancing ordinary items in order to address health outcomes

As a child, Chi Hwan Lee ever had Lego sets connected his day list. Lee, who loves mathematics and physics, would walk hours gathering the sets—following the instructions arsenic good arsenic his imagination.

That imaginativeness and those Lego pieces became the gathering blocks of Lee's Purdue University research, which focuses connected converting items similar contact lenses and prosthetic hands into astute devices with specially designed physics stickers to measurement imaginativeness nonaccomplishment oregon simulate the consciousness of feeling.

From star cells to biomedical applications

Lee, the Leslie A. Geddes subordinate prof of biomedical engineering successful Purdue's Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, says his passionateness for creating and assembling items continues to grow, acknowledgment to the entrepreneurial and collaborative situation astatine Purdue.

While his archetypal probe progressive processing additive manufacturing processes to person star cells and sensors to go flexible and adjacent wearable, it was during his occupation interrogation astatine Purdue wherever module members asked if helium had ever thought astir utilizing his star compartment enactment successful a biomedical setting.

That infinitesimal was pivotal for Lee, who present has a associated assignment successful the School of Mechanical Engineering and a courtesy assignment successful the School of Materials Engineering.

"All of those discussions were precise productive. The Purdue module looked astatine the exertion that I was moving connected and encouraged maine to research applications that I ne'er dreamed about," Lee says. "Purdue has a cleanable situation for maine to bash these interdisciplinary collaborations."

That charismatic civilization astatine Purdue and the surrounding assemblage helps Lee enactment originative and allows him to collaborate with world and aesculapian researchers, physicians, veterinarians, entrepreneurs and businesses astir the world.

"The collaboration and my probe purpose to lick large problems successful the satellite together. That's a existent satisfying job," helium says.

Lee's main absorption present is processing level technologies utilizing sticktronics, which are sticker-like items that incorporate electronics oregon astute technology. He besides specializes successful custom-printed brushed aesculapian sensors and conformable sensor arrays, each of which tin alteration telemedicine and on-demand cause transportation systems.

Sticktronics connection the quality to physically abstracted materials successful existing items and crook an point into a sticker that tin beryllium much flexible oregon transparent, particularly connected curved displays and biomedical sensors.

"You tin alteration the signifier origin from rigid and stiff to flexible and stretchable," Lee says.

Lee besides stresses to different researchers and the much than 20 students of each world levels who enactment successful his laboratory that to marque the champion devices, 1 has to perceive to the extremity users: Patients, physicians, nurses and different providers.

"Once determination is simply a worth and a wide objective need, and determination are a batch of talented radical there, each different things are minor. Everything other is natural," helium says.

Having a imaginativeness to prevention people's eyesight

Lee was invited to springiness a lecture astatine a seminar led by Dr. Pete Kollbaum successful the School of Optometry astatine Indiana University successful August 2018 astir his biomedical enactment and what optometrists and physicians should see astir objective instrumentality needs.

Intrigued by his research, Kollbaum has since partnered with Lee successful the improvement of interaction lens exertion that tin diagnose and show ocular aesculapian conditions specified arsenic glaucoma. Kollbaum besides serves arsenic manager of the Borish Center for Ophthalmic Research astatine Indiana University. Additionally, Lee has invited different researchers from assorted aesculapian schools to research this technology.

"There is simply a wide objective request for studying and researching glaucoma arsenic millions of radical endure silently done the nonaccomplishment of sight," Lee says.

Lee learned that determination are not galore ways to efficaciously trial and measurement unit connected a person's eyes, adjacent during sleeping. Thanks to his persistence, collaboration and innovation, his laboratory radical began taking modular over-the-counter contacts and placing sensors connected the lenses.

Patients tin deterioration the specialized contacts done the night, and unit measurements are sent to a telemedicine monitor, wherever physicians tin larn much astir glaucoma. Currently, a fistful of patients successful Indiana are trialing this technology. Further collaboration connected this task included Bryan Boudouris, a prof of chemic engineering astatine Purdue, who helped make the bedewed adhesive for attaching the sensor to the interaction lens.

The Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization helped unafraid a patent for the technology, and it is disposable for licensing. Lee's laboratory precocious received a $2 cardinal assistance from the National Institutes of Health with Yannis Paulus, an adjunct prof of ophthalmology astatine the University of Michigan Ann Arbor, who helped measure the interaction lens instrumentality successful a cause transportation setting.

"By combining each this expertise together, we're going successful the close direction," Lee says. "Purdue has the cleanable situation to make each of these things. There are nary barriers oregon restrictions. Collaboration is cardinal to doing research. That's the Purdue culture."

Empowering pupil creativity successful problem-solving

Lee's laboratory abstraction includes 3D printers truthful students, for example, tin marque parts for an physics glove, which simulates the consciousness of interaction for prosthetic hands. The exertion is being tested astatine a carnal rehabilitation halfway successful Chicago—you tin ticker the video here. The laboratory besides has modular sewing machines that tin crook strands of specialized nanotechnology textiles into clothing.

Researchers and students successful the lab, Lee says, complement each different with their talents, backgrounds and accomplishment sets, ranging from accepted engineering and selling to concern design.

"I cannot bash each things; everything is interdisciplinary," Lee says. "The astir important facet and request successful the laboratory is persistence."

While being a portion of 3 startups, Lee wants to proceed connected the exertion development and subject broadside of biomedical engineering to mentor his students and promote them to instrumentality implicit technologies they assistance create—all aimed astatine achieving one, superior goal.

"I privation our radical to make much technologies retired of Purdue to marque people's lives better—be it successful biomedical, user oregon user electronics," Lee says. "I would emotion to spot thing connected the marketplace that came done moving with my students. I privation to spot radical payment done our technologies."

---

---