August 2, 2023

Mark E. Schafer, PhD, research professor, School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, and colleagues received a 1-year $454,049 NIH National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) R21 grant for the project titled, “Continuous Cardiac Output Monitoring with a Central Venous Catheter Ultrasound Sensor.”

Cardiac blood output provides important information for clinicians treating sick patients. The aim of the project therefore is to develop a new ultrasound Doppler device that combines a central line catheter, which is frequently already in place in cardiac patients, with a unique polymer transducer to measure cardiac blood output accurately and continuously without adding new risks for the patient. Dr. Schafer and his team are collaborating with David Vilkomerson, PhD, an internationally known expert in Doppler technology and Todd J. Kilbaugh, MD, of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), where he is director of the Anesthesia and Critical Care Mitochondrial Unit, as well as Co-Director of the Department of Resuscitation Research Center.