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Contact Lens for Detecting Intraocular Pressure
20-0034 – Background Glaucoma is a progressive eye condition that damages the optic nerve leading to vision loss or blindness. The primary treatable risk factor for glaucoma patients is increased intraocular pressure (IOP). IOP is measured regularly in eye exams to screen, diagnose and assess treatment responses for glaucoma. Current devices used by ophthalmologists to measure IOP, such as the Goldman... Read More
Monolithic Perovskite/Silicon Tandem Solar Cells via Blade Coating
19-0147 – Existing monolithic perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells rely on silicon with a polished front-side surface to accommodate solution-processed deposition of the perovskite top cell. This flat front surface of the silicon bottom cell, however, limits the amount of light absorbed by the tandem device and increases manufacturing costs due to the required polishing steps. Previous efforts to... Read More
De Novo Compartment Deconvolution and Weight Estimation of Tumor Tissue Samples Using Decoder
19-0094 – Tumors are mixtures of different compartments. While global gene expression analysis profiles the average expression of all compartments in a sample, identifying the specific contribution of each compartment remains a challenge. With the increasing recognition of the importance of non-neoplastic components, the ability to breakdown the gene expression contribution of each is critical.... Read More
LCK and SHP1 Engineering in CAR-T Cells
19-0107 – CD19-specific CAR-T cells encoding either CD28 or 4-1BB costimulatory endodomains promote antitumor activity in patients with B cell malignancies. Enhancing the kinetics of antitumor activity of 4-1BB, while preserving their longevity, may be critical in controlling rapidly progressive solid tumors. CD28 costimulation is generally associated with a very rapid tumor clearance as compared with... Read More
IL23 Cytokine T Cell Engineering for Cancer Immunotherapy
19-0145 – The development of inducible and selective engineering processes supporting T cell expansion and survival remain critical in adoptive T cell therapies in solid tumors. IL23 is a heterodimeric cytokine that consists of p19 and p40 subunits, both expressed by activated macrophages and dendritic cells. Activation-induced expression of the p19 subunit in T cells couples the release and activity... Read More
Methods And Compositions For CSPG4 Chimeric Antigen Receptor Targeting Cancer Cells
18-0087 – Glioblastoma (GBM) is a lethal primary brain cancer, surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy have little impact on survival. CSPG4 is an attractive target for immunotherapy in GBM, it is highly expressed in GBM with limited intratumoral heterogeneity little expression in the normal brain parenchyma. CSPG4 is expressed in considerable amounts not only in GBM but also other tumors including... Read More
DeepCGH: 3D Computer-Generated Holography using Deep Learning
20-0056 – Existing algorithms for computer-generated holography (CGH) rely on iterative approaches that require selecting between computation speed and hologram accuracy. This built-in tradeoff is increasingly incompatible with emerging CGH applications in optogenetics and virtual reality that demand production of high-resolution holograms on short time scales. The present UNC invention is a CGH... Read More
Subunit Vaccine Against Dengue Virus
20-0009 – Current approaches to Dengue Virus (DENV) vaccine design all make use of live attenuated viruses. This appraoch suffers from difficulties in desinging a vaccine formulation that can eleicit a balanced immune response against all four serotypes of DENV. Subunit vaccines, composed only of the immungenic E protein found on the surface of the DENV viral capsid, present an alternative appraoch to... Read More
Ultrasound Mediated Delivery of Therapeutics and Disruption of Drug Resistant Biofilms
20-0102 – Background Biofilms are aggregates of microorganisms embedded in a self-produced extracellular matrix and can attach to each other or to surfaces, including a patient’s skin or soft tissue, or an implanted medical device, such as a catheter. Microorganisms that make up biofilms can include bacteria, fungi, and protists. Biofilms are prevalent in many infections and are resistant to... Read More
Brain Infusion System Safety Sheath
19-0045 – Convection enhanced delivery (CED) is a method for delivering therapeutics across the blood-brain barrier to the brain and central nervous system. CED can be used to treat various disease, including brain tumors, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease, and is generally characterized as a minimally invasive technique. While CED has shown some promise in clinical applications, the current... Read More
Grow-Up Declarative Memory Task
19-0068 – It is difficult to test a cognitive ability across development, because tasks needed to test cognitive ability evolve as the child grows. To solve this problem, UNC has designed and developed events for testing infant and toddler declarative memory that grow with the child. This product consists of 3-D printed objects and can be as simple as assembling a box and hammering a nail into the... Read More
Rapidly Synthesized Radiolabeled PET Tracers with Improved Biological Characteristics
16-0078 – Background Positron-emission tomography (PET) is a medical imaging technique that utilizes radiolabeled tracers to aid in disease diagnosis for oncology, neurology, cardiology, and infectious diseases. PET imaging allows for detailed characterization of physiological processes, such as metabolism and blood flow. Most often PET is utilized by oncologists for cancer diagnosis and identification... Read More
Surgical Bed and Ligature Holder for Generating a Mouse Model to Study Periodontitis
18-0024 – Periodontal disease results in a loss of gingival tissue, periodontal ligament, and is a major contributor to tooth loss in adults. It is estimated that nearly 50% of the adult population in the United States is affected by periodontal disease. Experimental animal models for periodontal disease are essential for understanding the origin and evolution of the pathology in humans and are... Read More
Early breast cancer screening method by differentiating malignant from benign lesions
20-0104 – Current ultrasound-based systems are not able to differentiate between malignant or benign breast cancer, which is an important aspect of early breast cancer screening. A method has been developed combining acoustic radiation force-based ultrasound and measurement of tissue anisotropy to identify malignant breast cancer. Several viscoelastic characteristics are measured in the lesion and... Read More
Quantitative Viscoelastic Response (QVisR) Ultrasound to Diagnose, Treat, and Monitor Disease in Patients
20-0010 – Diagnosis of a disease using non-invasive biomarkers is a much safer alternative compared to surgical methods. Non-invasive biomarkers also accelerate the diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of patients. Researchers in the Department of Biomedical Engineering have developed a method, termed Quantitative Viscoelastic Response (QVisR) ultrasound, to quantitatively assess underlying tissue... Read More
Double-Profile Intersection (DoPIo) Elastography to Diagnose, Treat, and Monitor Disease in Patients
20-0015 – Diagnosis of a disease using non-invasive biomarkers is a much safer alternative compared to surgical methods. Non-invasive biomarkers also accelerate the diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of patients. Researchers in the Department of Biomedical Engineering have developed Double-Profile Intersection (DoPIo) elastography, which is an acoustic radiation force (ARF)-based ultrasound imaging... Read More
Rapid Production of Perovskite Films for Photovoltaic Solar Cells
18-0139 – Current methods for the deposition of perovskite inks require high temperature and pressure to produce large area films for photovoltaic (PV) applications at a commercially relevant scale. The present invention uses a novel solvent mixture in conjunction with an air knife to produce uniform perovskite films at room temperature. The solvent mixture components are selected to facilitate fast... Read More
Interconnection Layers for Perovskite-Perovskite Tandem Solar Cells
18-0158 – Fullerene / SnO2-x interconnection layers for perovskite-perovskite tandem solar cells are shown to improve power conversion efficiency while simplifying device fabrication. These interconnection layers obviate the need for sputtered ITO layers, and they form Ohmic contact with both the narrow band gap and wide band gap sub-cells of the tandem devices. This invention challenges previous... Read More
Metal Ion Doping of Perovskite Films
18-0169 – Addition of extrinsic metal ions is shown to induce n-type doping of polycrystalline perovskite films. The resulting polycrystalline films exhibit doping at the film surface and along grain boundaries. Addition of optimized amounts of metal ions lead to formation of p-n junctions within individual perovskite grains. The resulting lateral homojunction structure increases charge carrier... Read More
Ionic Fluorogels for Remediation of Per- and Polyfluorinated Alkyl Substances from Water
19-0149 – This invention describes ionic fluorogel resins that remove per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) from water with high affinity and selectivity. The resin design relies on a fluorophilic resin matrix material that is decorated with ionic functional groups. The fluorophilic backbone selectively partitions PFAS into the resin, and the ionic functional groups sequester charged PFAS... Read More
Enhanced Virtual Crossmatch
20-0038 – In the United States, there are approximately 110,000 people in need of a kidney transplant, 13 of which die every day before finding a donor match. Successful transplantation, particularly of kidneys, is contingent on the compatibility of donor antigens and the recipient’s antibodies. Current methods for determining compatibility via a crossmatch is quite cumbersome and dependent on the... Read More
Muscle Vibration Stimulator
19-0114 – This device provides vibration designed to stimulate skeletal muscle and sensory neurons during rehabilitation of orthopaedic injuries and disease (initially demonstrated in quadriceps and knees). The device is patient-portable, has a large contact area, provides localized effect, and is variably adjustable. UNC has also recently demonstrated that this device improves gait biomechanics... Read More
Advanced Disinfectant Formulations
18-0097 – The Water Institute at UNC has developed novel chemical disinfectant formulations to enhance inactivation of protozoan cysts and other chlorine-resistant pathogens with particular emphasis on improving water safety in emergencies and low and middle income settings. Based on the results of this work to date, UNC has developed at least three paths to rapidly achieving significant reduction in... Read More
Hogel-free Holography
18-0160 – UNC has developed a software simulation (novel algorithmic method) and benchmarking for production of holographic (3D) images in an augmented reality environment. Near-eye displays using holographic projection are emerging as an exciting display approach for virtual and augmented reality at high-resolution without complex optical setups — shifting optical complexity to computation. The UNC... Read More
Nanofibers for targeted treatment of aortic aneurysms
20-0042 – Background Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), occurs when there is an enlarged portion of the abdominal aorta, and accounts for approximately 10,000 deaths per year in the United States. Current treatments include surgical intervention or minimally invasive laparoscopic repair. However, the AAA can rupture, and the patient will not survive surgery or sometimes even reach the hospital. There are... Read More
Nanofibers for targeted treatment of pulmonary disease
20-0070 – Background Pulmonary hypertension is a progressive and severe condition with severe, and often fatal, consequences. Despite remarkable therapeutic advancements over the last thirty years, mortality rates remain as high as 40%. Current therapies largely target the major regulatory pathways involved in vascular tone. These therapies are associated with considerable limitations such as, a short... Read More
Assessment of Pulmonary Fibrosis Using Ultrasound Multiple Scattering
20-0036 – Pulmonary fibrosis affects is a progressive, inflammatory and fibro-proliferative lung disease and affects approximately 200,000 patients in the United States. The disease causes a change in the micro-architecture of the lung, such as thickening of the alveolar walls and the formation of patchy scars. Conventional uses of lung ultrasound in these patients is based on a standardized set of... Read More
Mouse: Human ACE2 Expression
20-0133 – Angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is the cellular entry receptor for many SARS-like coronaviruses. SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 bind and enter human cells via the ACE2 receptor. This mouse line expresses human ACE2 under the control of HFH4, a lung ciliated epithelial promoter. HFH4-hACE2-expressing mice are sensitized to infection by SARS-like coronaviruses when compared with wild-type... Read More
Improved Techniques for Quantitative MRI
19-0061 – Background Quantification of tissue properties, such as the T1 and T2 relaxation times, in the human body through quantitative magnetic resonance imaging, is desired for clinical applications and research areas. Compared to qualitative imaging techniques, quantitative imaging can provide more accurate and unbiased information of a patient and make it easier to objectively compare different... Read More
Smart Medical Imaging Protocols
17-0036 – Background Currently, a wide array of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) protocols are pre-defined for different diseases. For example, in neurological diseases, there are protocols for epilepsy, stroke, multiple sclerosis, etc. Under each disease category, the protocols are further divided into pediatric or adult patients, and each protocol consists of a collection of MRI sequences aiming to... Read More
A red blood cell-mediated light-responsive platform for thrombolytics delivery
19-0138 – The red blood cell-mediated light-responsive platform is a novel drug delivery system that uses red blood cells to deliver thrombolytics with controlled release triggered by a specific wavelength of light. Thrombolytics, such as tPA and urokinase, have been used for the pharmacological removal of a thrombus for three decades. However, significant challenges have prevented the anticipated... Read More
A next generation FOLFOX for colorectal cancer and liver metastasis
20-0002 – FOLFOX is a combination of chemotherapy drugs, consisting of folinic acid (FnA), f-fluorouracil (5-Fu) and oxaplatin (OxP). The new generation of FOLFOX is comprised of targeted nano-formulation of Folox (FnA and OxP) and free 5-Fu, allowing for enhanced drug pharmacokinetics and therapeutic effect for the treatment of colorectal cancer and metastasis. FOLFOX has been used to treat... Read More
Synthetic adhesins for enhanced probiotic efficacy
20-0006 – Synthetic adhesin in probiotic delivery is a modular platform for the conjugation of targeting ligands to the surface of live therapeutic bacteria, allowing for more specific and enhanced attachment to live mammalian cells. It is known that the efficacy of therapeutic bacteria is dependent on the ability of the bacteria to interact with and adhere to specific host niches. However, current... Read More
Accelerated Acquisition of Diffusion MRI
20-0058 – Background Diffusion MRI (dMRI) is used to quantify brain tissue microenvironments and obtain accurate estimates of axonal orientations for tractography by utilizing the characteristics of the molecular diffusion of water. Precise acquisition of dMRI images requires probing water molecules in multiple diffusion scales and directions, which consequently increases acquisition time. Increased... Read More
Retrospective Artifact Correction of MRI through Unsupervised Deep Learning
20-0060 – Background Structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) is highly prone to motion artifacts, which is difficult to prevent in the case of pediatric patients. Improving image quality and removing artifacts retrospectively using supervised learning, requires the generation of paired data, consisting of images with and without artifacts of the same subject. Explicit generation of such images is... Read More
Novel affinity molecule that synergizes that immune checkpoint blockade therapy
20-0063 – BisCCL2/5i is a novel single domain antibody that binds and neutralizes both murine CCL2 and CCL5. The dual blockade of CCL2 and CCL5 signaling with BisCCL2/5i leads to metabolic reprogramming of tumor-associated macrophages, providing enhanced therapeutic effect to treat liver malignancies when in combination with immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy. It has been known that... Read More
Nano co-delivery of quercetin and alantolactone for colorectal cancer treatment
19-0065 – Quercetin (Q) and alantolactone (A) are two traditional Chinese medicines that have shown a wide spectrum of medical benefits, such as anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor activities. A micelle-based nano-formulation was used to encapsulate these two drugs in a unique ratio (Q:A = 1:4) and to achieve drug delivery to colorectal cancer site, providing optimal drug pharmacokinetics and synergistic... Read More
Multiple antigen-targeting T-cell immunotherapy for cancer treatment
19-0073 – The multiple antigen-targeting T-cell immunotherapy is a new T-cell therapy mediated by the expression of a novel antibody mimics that is able to simultaneously recognize two epitopes of the same antigens or two distinct antigens on the tumor cells, allowing for significant improvement on tumor cell capture and killing. Despite the remarkable clinical activity of adoptive therapy with... Read More
Fumarate prodrugs to treat or prevent schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders
19-0155 – Background The incidence of psychotic disorders is increasing worldwide. Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder that can become chronic, severe, and is often socially and occupationally disabling. Antipsychotic drugs are currently used to treat schizophrenia and other brain disorders like depression, dementia, and bipolar disorder. These drugs don’t work for approximately one third of... Read More
Composition of a Nanoparticle for Gene Delivery in Animals
09-0134 – A novel nanoparticle (NP) formulation that shows enhanced delivery of siRNA to its target cells has been developed. siRNA shows promise as a therapeutic; however, its delivery to its target tissue or cell is often a challenge. We have developed lipid calcium phosphate (LCP) NPs that efficiently deliver siRNAs to their targets. We have demonstrated the ability of these LCP NPs to deliver... Read More
Classifyiers for Tumor Phenotype based on DNA Copy Number Alterations
18-0018 – This technology is a method of using alterarions in DNA copy number to predict the phenotype of a breast cancer tumor. This is a significantly different approach to identifying tumor phenotype because it relies only on DNA-based data. This method is able to predict the estrogen receptor status, progesterone receptor status, and HER2 status of breast cancer tumors. Additionally, this method... Read More
Method and Reagent for Decarboxylative Functionalization of Carboxylic Acids
19-0131 – A method and associated reagent for direct decarboxylative functionalization of aliphatic compounds via photo-induced hydrogen atom transfer has been developed. This method provides a new route for late-stage modification of natural products, biological compounds, and drugs through introduction of a xanthyl group that is further elaborated into a variety of derivatives. High reaction yields... Read More
Functionalized Poly-oxazoline Drug Delivery
19-0121 – A novel poly(2-oxazoline) based polymer functionalized with the condensed form of N, N-dimethylbiguanide (cBOx) has been developed. cBOx was synthesized via the condensation of N, N-dimethylbiguanide with the methyl ester side chain in poly (2-methoxycarboxyethyl-2-oxazoline) of the diblock copolymer composed of poly(2-methyl-2-oxazoline) and poly (2-methoxycarboxyethyl-2-oxazoline). The new... Read More
Nano-Puerarin Formulation for the regulation of the tumor microenvironment
19-0070 – Puerarin is one of several known isoflavones and it has been identified to effectively downregulate ROS production. The targeted nano-formulation delivers puerarin to tumor associated fibroblasts (TAFs) to deactivate tumor stromal microenvironment, allowing for facilitated chemotherapy and immunotherapy effect. It has been found that tumor stromal microenvironment serves as a physical... Read More
High Definition Cyclic Voltammetry Software
20-0028 – To accommodate recent and future advances in fast-scan cyclic voltammetry applications, researchers at UNC have developed High Definition Cyclic Voltammetry (HDCV). HDCV is an electrochemical software suite that includes data acquisition and analysis programs. The data collection program delivers greater experimental flexibility and better user feedback through live displays. It supports... Read More
Mouse: Ccdc8 KO
20-0031 – To determine the mechanism underlying the 3-M syndrome, we knocked out Ccdc8 in the C57BL/6J mouse strain by standard homologous recombination methods. Ccdc8 conditional and conventional mice were generated by gene targeting in ES cells from C57BL/6 background strain microinjected into albino-C57BL/6 blastocysts. Successful Ccdc8 knockout was confirmed by Southern, PCR and DNA sequence.... Read More
Luminal Bladder Cancer Cell Lines
18-0020 – We have generated a novel GEM (Genetically Engineered Murine) Model of luminal bladder cancer, called UPPL, by knocking out Pten and Trp53 in Upk3a expressing cells (Upk3a-CreERT2). Once bladder tumors formed, cell lines were generated that can be passaged in vitro as well as form tumors in immunocompetent B6 mice Related Publications:
Software for the Analysis of Electrocochleograms
20-0019 – The Electrocochleogram (ECochG) is an electrophysiologic signal acquired from the cochlea in response to sound or electrical stimulaton. This recorded signal is a mixture of potentials generated by hair cells and nerve activity. Although many companies make products which can acquire the ECochG signal, the interpretation of that signal is largely qualitative. Our investigators have developed... Read More
Synthetic Peptide Mimetic for the Treatment of Cancer and Hematalogical Disorders
19-0178 – Researchers at UNC have recently developed a cell penetrating, synthetic peptide for the treatment of heamtological cancer, sickle cell anemia and ß-thalassemia. This peptide exerts its therapeutic effect by disrupting the MBD2:NuRD complex in human cells. Recent studies have indicated that disrupting MBD2:NuRD complex formation can inhibit DNA methylation, making this complex a target for... Read More
Biologically Targeted Photo-Crosslinkable Nano-Patch to Prevent Postsurgical Peritoneal Adhesion
18-0101 – A biologically targeted, photo-crosslinkable nanopatch (pCNP) that prevents postsurgical adhesion has been developed. Peritoneal adhesion occurs in a majority of patients following abdominal surgery and can result in significant side effects and complications. Current strategies to minimize adhesions involve the use of nontargeted anatomical barriers that are either inefficient in protecting... Read More