(*Patent Text - Check It Out!*) 

When traveling around the U.S. observing mitral valve repair surgeries, I discovered that although mitral valve repair has improved clinical outcomes when compared to mitral valve replacement, it is not widely performed by all cardiac surgeons, due to the "art" involved in making an optimal valve prepare. Repair surgery requires a rigorous, long-term training period, and even then, only a select number of surgeons are confident to frequently repair mitral valves, especially in "difficult" cases. Additionally, at the Boston Children’s Hospital, I discovered that a child with a mitral valve replacement requires multiple surgeries over his or her lifetime to account for growth. 

The common denominator between these and many other surgeries is that some form of an implant or prosthetic is inserted into the patient. For example, in mitral valve repair, an annuloplasty ring is used to hold the shape of the annulus, and/or artificial chordae are inserted. Therefore, I thought it would be ideal if all of these implants were adjustable for the lifetime of the patient without performing another surgery. Just think … one surgery, and an ability to optimize an implant for life. I was introduced to MRI technology at an IEEE Winter School at Johns Hopkins University, and I thought, "the MRI machine basically has all of the components of a motor, and it has a lot of energy that can be harvested." With that basic concept, I invented an actuation method using inexpensive ferrous spheres embedded, yet free-to-rotate, in non-ferrous scaffolds. By incorporating this technology into various devices, adjustable mechanisms can be designed that can be imaged and actuated with the MRI machine, in real-time! The patent filed at MIT covers various actuation techniques, devices (i.e., implants, external biopsy robots, etc.), control methods and materials. Please feel free to contact the MIT TLO if you are interested in pursuing this technology further (please reference: Title of Patent: SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MANIPULATION OF DEVICES USING MAGNETIC FIELDS; Inventor(s) on Patent: Danielle R. Zurovcik). I am excited to see the great ideas that can be built-off of this concept! 

(*Patent Text - Check It Out!*)