Med Tech Blog

Sept

TA offers & Lab Updates

Just accepted more another 38 TA hours for BMEG 598 and was offered a term 1 position with another 38 TA hours for the same course but couldn't accept it due to research progress and bandwidth. I also was offered an APSC 160 TA position in term 1 (teaching first years how to code in C) but for the same reason I had to turn it down. 

Made a lot of progress in the data acquisition process of collecting my data, and have been doing a lot of digging out how to improve my setup. A lot of the nature of my work is setup development mimicing some work done on a similar but different device at CERN. But notably we just hired a postdoc from that lab at cern who used the setup and can help us in our setup development. 

July

Went to McDonald Inst.!

Just went to the McDonald Inst. saw some interesting presentations (photos below). I got a nervous and rushed this presentation, I usually don't get to be this way but the size of the audience and significance got to me a bit but it was still nice. Also the way there become quite terrible as I attempted to take a redeye flight at 12:45am and was made to deboard at 2am after some sensor issue and had to come back at 1:30pm then arrive in Toronto at 9pm and stay overnight and take the bus in the morning causing a Vancouver to Kingston trip to be over 30 hours. Everything was so uncertain and I arrived halfway through the first day and was sleep deprived through the whole event.

Accepted TA Offers and McDonald Inst. Mini Conference Soon!

Just accepted an offer to TA BMEG 220 for the third time which is an electromagnetics, circuits, and vector calculus course and for BMEG 598 which is a research seminar. (BMEG is the biomedical engineering course code). Very excited to be flying to Queen's University in a few days to do a 20 minute presentation on my research on Silicon Photomultipliers. 

McDonald Institute Mini Dark Matter/AstroParticle Conference

Looking forward to attending the McDonald Institute mini dark matter/astroparticle conference at the end of July now that my abstract was accepted to do a presentation on two-photon absorption in Sililcon Photomultipliers.

Career Progress thus far

Not too long ago I was in highschool just sort of discovering my passion for physics and science starting to aspire to become an biomedical/electrical engineer. Now fast forward I did a degree in biomedical engineering focused in electrical engineering at UBC with an 8 month part time research job at ICORD (a spinal cord injury research group at Vancouver General Hospital affiliated with UBC) and a year long full time co-op at General Fusion (a nuclear fusion startup that is now worth a billion USD). 

Now that I finished my undergrad, I started a masters in September in electrical and computer engineering at UBC with General Fusion's collaborators at TRIUMF on their neutron spectrometer, but working on a different project for trying to use two photon absorption in Silicon Photomultipliers to measure electron and hole avalanche probabilities directly with the ability to measure other things as well like jitter/timing response, and sensitivity. I have two supervisors, one at TRIUMF-Fabrice Retiere, SFU and one at UBC-Boris Stoeber. I have a desk in the Kaiser building and at TRIUMF in the meson hall which was convenient for when I was taking courses and getting my research training. 

Aurenar receives FDA breakthrough designation for non-invasive brain-bleed device
Aurenar has received FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for its V-Link System, a non-invasive neuromodulation device designed to reduce cerebral vasospasm after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. The device stimulates a branch of the vagus nerve through the outer ear, aiming to regulate inflammation after hemorrhagic stroke.
Aurenar Receives FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for Non-Invasive Neuromodulation Therapy | PR Newswire

Median Technologies receives CE mark for AI lung-cancer screening software
Median Technologies has obtained CE marking for eyonis LCS, its AI-powered Software as a Medical Device for low-dose CT lung-cancer screening. The system is designed to help clinicians detect lung nodules and classify them as probably benign, suspicious or very suspicious for cancer.
Median Technologies’ eyonis LCS Obtains CE Marking | Business Wire

Visby Medical receives FDA clearance for at-home flu and COVID PCR test
Visby Medical has received FDA clearance for an at-home PCR test that detects and differentiates influenza A, influenza B and SARS-CoV-2. The test is designed for consumer use and provides molecular results in about 30 minutes.
Visby Medical Receives FDA Clearance for the First At-Home PCR for Multiple Respiratory Viruses | Yahoo Finance

Jan-June

China approves a brain–computer interface for commercial use

China has approved what it describes as the world’s first brain-computer interface, or BCI, medical device authorized for commercial sale. Developed by Shanghai-based Borui Kang Medical Technology, the system is intended for adults with quadriplegia resulting from cervical spinal-cord injuries. Electrodes are implanted outside the brain’s protective membrane through a minimally invasive procedure. 

China approves market launch of brain-computer interface medical device in world first | Reuters 

U.S. launches faster Medicare coverage pathway for new medical devices

The FDA and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have announced a pathway called RAPID, intended to reduce the delay between FDA approval and Medicare reimbursement for certain breakthrough medical devices. Device manufacturers currently may wait a year or longer after regulatory approval before Medicare determines whether it will pay for their technology. Under RAPID, national coverage could begin within approximately 60-90 days.

US health regulators to speed up Medicare device coverage | Reuters 

Nia Therapeutics receives breakthrough designation for memory-restoring implant

Nia Therapeutics has received FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for its Smart Neurostimulation System, designed to treat persistent episodic-memory loss following moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury. This is not yet FDA approval; the designation gives the company closer interaction with regulators and prioritized review while it develops clinical evidence.

Nia Therapeutics wins FDA breakthrough nod for neuromod