BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — A team of scientists at Indiana University recently made a medical breakthrough in the area of cardiac care, creating a new product that could make this kind of care safer.
Officials with the FAMES Lab, or the Fibers and Additive Manufacturing Enabled Systems Laboratory, recently took FOX59/CBS4 on an exclusive tour of their facilities, including showing off a new self-aware catheter system with a wire guide. The lab first began at Indiana University in 2016
The lab created an organic polymer fiber that can be attached to a catheter. This will be able to sense pinches or potential changes in pressure if they get too close to the artery walls. Officials said that this fiber is about as thin as a human hair.
“This facility for making fibers is one-of-a-kind in US academia,” Alexander Gumennik, the director of the FAMES Laboratory, said.
This project is a partnership with Cook Medical, something that Gumennik hopes will turn into “a beautiful friendship” between the lab and the Cook Medical manufacturing team.
While the project has had promising early results, officials said the next step is to test it on living arteries, which will require more funding.
By: David Gay