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technolog y on the move
Support HTE@USC
You can help support these students as they build technology that has the power to dramatically alter patients’ health: • Endowment for Student Scholarships – A gift of $1 million will endow a student scholarship. • Current Use Student Scholarships – A gift of $100,000 will provide scholarship support for a student for four years. • Student Research – Support students’ work in developing clinical innovations by making a gift of any amount. To learn more, please contact Molly Gervais, mgervais@usc.edu, 323-442-1700. To make a gift online, go to keck. usc.edu/supportkeck.
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KeckMedicine
Anthony Senagore wears 3-D glasses during colorectal surgery.
C omputer to clinic
Even as a staunch believer in the power of technology, Sanger is quick to point out that “technology won’t solve all of our problems.” He stresses the importance of building the right kind of technology. “If you get it wrong, you can hurt people. But if you get it right, you can have a huge impact,” he says. With a passion for pediatrics and computer science, Sanger set out to build the right technology to help children with movement disorders. His research began at Stanford University, where he studied how the brain controls muscles and how injury to the brain leads to movement disorders. He ultimately discovered a way to help children with movement disorders (ones that cause involuntary movements and extended muscle contractions) retrain their muscles. Through the use of a biofeedback device worn on the affected muscles, patients learn to become aware of the muscles they are activating. “If you don’t know what your muscles are doing, you can’t control them,” Sanger says. Sanger’s device features a small sensor that attaches to the skin to measure electric potential in the muscles. When the sensor detects electrical activity, it emits a blue light, and the patient feels a vibration. “Once you’ve done something correctly, you remember it. It’s like learning how to ride a bike,” he says, adding that while the device “does a very simple thing, there’s a lot of complexity under the hood.” | Winter 2013 Issue
Jeffrey Hagen and colleagues use new technology to improve both diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer. He’s currently conducting two clinical trials for this device at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Nine-yearold Zachary Garrett participated in one of these trials. He has difficulty moving his anterior tibialis, the muscle responsible for lifting his toes off the ground. In just one month of wearing the small sensory feedback device, his motor function of that muscle significantly improved. “He couldn’t tap his feet before. This wasn’t a muscle he had ever used or was even aware of,” says Marcy Garrett, Zachary’s mother. Now he has a much better range of motion, which will make it easier to do the things he loves, such as playing basketball, karate and swimming. Zachary wants to be active and move as fast as his friends, she says, and now he is one step closer to doing that. E ngineers and doctors innovate together
When Sanger isn’t working with children, he’s inspiring scientists- and doctors-to-be to discover new biomedical innovations through the HTE@USC program. This four-year program is designed for both medical and engineering students seeking hands-on, real-world experience in medical technology. “The program is focused on the idea of teamwork with the notion that medical technology develops when doctors and engineers are an integral part of the team,” Sanger says. Students are responsible for
Photo by Alison Trinidad (left); Photo by Van Urfalian (right)
HTE@USC is part of a larger USC effort to promote rapid advances in health care through research and education that combines medicine with advanced engineering and scientific technologies. Medical and engineering students collaborate on technology projects specifically geared toward medical advancement.