DrExcel Health Projects

Contact DrExcel Health

  drexcelhealth@gmail.com
  pav38@drexel.edu

Drexel engineering students at the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems found that they could not form an accurate picture of the needs that exist in clinical practice because they had limited familiarity with the clinical patient environment. DrExcel Health provides an opportunity for engineering students to identify projects that would benefit from collaboration between clinical faculty, College of Medicine alumni and senior medical students.

DrExcel Health project labs establish connections throughout the University that bring together students and faculty from multiple disciplines in an independent, extracurricular manner that encourages long-term efforts and commitment to original projects.

DrExcel Health provides a model for encouraging students to pursue their interests and thrive under a supportive environment so that they have the potential to take their projects from conception to startups, venture funding, or late-stage prototyping and beyond.

Team 1: UVA & UVB Index Detector
Skin cancer is the #1 most common cancer in the United States.More research is needed to differentiate UVA and UVB which each carry different risks.
Download poster.

  • Student Team:
    • MD: Anita Bargaje, Edson De Guzman, Jaclyn Lo, Sukethram Sivakumar, Patrick Vespa
    • BME: Ahmed Azhar, Thien Doan, Barrett Genovese, Lara Heinlein
  • Advisors: Erum Ilyas, MD, and Christopher Rodell, PhD

Team 2: NeuroPulse: A Device to Preserve Neurological Function During Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest
Cardiac arrest is a life-threatening event where the heart stops beating, leading to reduced oxygen circulation, unconsciousness, neurological damage, and potential death. Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest accounts for 350,000 annual incidents with only a 10% survival rate. Remote ischemic conditioning is a noninvasive technique that involves applying brief, controlled cycles of blood flow restriction and reperfusion to an extremity, triggering protective physiological responses that help preserve cardiac and neurological function.
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  • Student Team:
    • MD: Gokul Karthikeyan, Mohammed Khan, Spencer Moavenzadeh, Bill Telfer, Stephanie Widjaja
    • BME: Basil Damra, Jacob Donchez, Skye Goldman, Meghan Willner
  • Advisors: Kenneth Barbee, PhD, and Adam Sigal, MD

Team 3: Particle Detector for Pediatric Patients With Allergy-Induced Asthma
The goal is to develop a low-latency particle detection device to support parents of children with allergen-induced asthma by alerting users when indoor particle counts are high.
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  • Student Team:
    • MD: Victor Chai, Zhuorui Li, Noor Qureshi, Samantha Efobi, Sarah Vizzeswarapu
    • BME: Catie Connolly, Puja Das, Kera Jones, Priya Hans
  • Advisors: Joseph Sarver, PhD, and Pramath Nath, MD

Team 4: The Philly Y: Using Y-Adaptors to Redefine Post-surgical Care
Simplifying post-surgical drain care is crucial to reducing complications and minimizing costly health outcomes during recovery. The Philly Y is engineered to replace traditional three-way stopcocks in surgical drain systems, enhancing safety, efficiency and patient comfort. The product optimizes drainage performance while facilitating ease of use.
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  • Student Team:
    • MD: Shayla Murray, Rudra Amin, Trevor Tran, Margot Bellon, Katherine Jerakis,
    • BME: Nuha Mirza, James Virtucio, Joie Chen, Natty Lapinsky, Terry Coley
  • Advisor: Timothy Niesen, MD

Team 5: TapAlign: A Novel Device for Improving Neonatal Lumbar Puncture Success Rates
Lumbar punctures are the gold standard for diagnosing bacterial meningitis, which is a life-threatening infection of the brain and spinal cord. The goal of this project was to design an adjustable horizontal stabilization device for infants (0–6 months) that maintains spinal curvature, ensures airway safety, and keeps the infant securely immobilized during lumbar punctures.
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  • Student Team:
    • MD: Louis Fanien, Lauren Holt, Keyur Patel, Anthony Russo, Michelle Wang
    • BME: Hriti Chauhan, Rose Emily Garzon, Anusha Shinde, Griffin Stein
  • Advisor: Pramath Nath, MD

Team 6: SacraFlow Probe: A Revolutionary Way to Treat Deep Tissue Injury
3 million adults develop tissue pressure injuries each year, with incidence rates of 38% in hospitals, 23.9% in nursing homes. Our goal was to use diffuse correlation spectroscopy to me asure blood flow to detect and diagnose DTI upon admission before it reaches an advanced state. A probe will be placed on a patient's sacral region to detect any signs of ischemia.
Download poster.

  • Student Team:
    • MD: Rajit Agarwal, Julia Danon, Abigail McKenna, Allbert Tong, Liying Wei
    • BME: Sabrina Frattarelli, Meet Patel, Gavin Welsh, Melissa Vuong, Randolph Sinahon
  • Advisor: Kurtulus Izzetoglu, PhD, and Michael Weingarten, MD, MBA

Labs Program 2023

Labs Program 2022

Labs Program 2021

Labs Program 2020

Labs Program 2019

Labs Program 2018

Project Timeline

DrExcel Health Project Timeline

 
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