Bioengineering team wins national prize for kidney device

A medical device that was developed by five bioengineering undergraduates as part of a senior-year project has won a national competition, and its creators plan to keep nudging it toward the marketplace.

The NephroGuard is designed to detect acute kidney injury after cardiac surgery within hours instead of days. It won the $15,000 NIDDK Kidney Technology Development Prize as part of the Design by Biomedical Undergraduate Teams (DEBUT) Challenge.

The NephroGuard team included (from left): Calvin Chernyatinskiy, Alexander Bowie, Aaron Spearman, Omar Aguilar and Nicholas Stiebler.

The team that created the device consists of Omar Aguilar, Alexander Bowie, Calvin Chernyatinskiy, Aaron Spearman and Nicholas Stiebler. All five graduated in May with Bachelors of Science in bioengineering.

Their faculty advisosr on the project were John DesJardins, the Hambright Distinguished Professor in Engineering Leadership, and Tyler Harvey, senior lecturer, in bioengineering.

The team was also advised by Megan Pitz, who in May received her Ph.D. in bioengineering, and clinical advisor Dr. Richard Ingram, a nephrologist in LaGrange, Georgia.

"I congratulate all of the team members on their well-earned prize in the DEBUT Challenge," DesJardins said. "Their win is a result of hard work and bold thinking and underscores how the educational experiences in Clemson's Department of Bioengineering shape the leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs of the future."

The NephroGuard collects urine and measures for a biomarker released hours after kidney damage occurs. The biomarker is associated with acute kidney injury that sometimes occurs in patients after cardiac surgery.

The problem with the current method for diagnosing kidney injury is that it is often done by measuring creatinine levels in blood, team members said. It takes two or three days for creatinine levels to rise after the damage occurs, so precious time is lost.

If kidney injury can be detected sooner, it could help prevent permanent damage and provide better care to patients, team members said.

One of the key selling points is that the NephroGuard can be connected to a catheter, so it could be used with common medical equipment hospitals already have on hand, they said.

While all of the team's members have graduated, they continue to work on bringing their device to market. They worked with a lawyer to secure a provisional patent and are learning all they can from industry experts and entrepreneurs who have started companies based on devices they created.

The NephroGuard started as one of the design projects that all bioengineering students undertake in their senior year. The team designed and built the device and created a video to market it.

Members collected their award on Oct. 25 at the Biomedical Engineering Society annual conference in Baltimore. The DEBUT Challenge had 85 applications from 48 universities in 24 states, with 362 students participating altogether.

The prize won by the Clemson team was sponsored by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

Here is what each team member had to say about his experience in creating the NephroGuard:

Omar Aguilar, pursuing a Master of Biomedical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology:

"We have a lot of fun together. I think that's why we work so well together. We were able to build something that works and matters. We've had a lot of late nights, but those late nights have been some of my fondest memories from undergrad for sure."

Alexander Bowie, applying to medical school:

"My end goal is to become a physician, but I want to balance my compassionate care and empathy with cutting-edge research and design. Working on the NephroGuard encompasses that. As I go through medical school, working on NephroGuard is going to give me a great experience and something that I can build on for the future."

Calvin Chernyatinskiy, pursuing a Master of Science in bioengineering at Clemson:

"What really excites me is that we're taking something that we thought of as a concept, and we're actually having the opportunity to possibly take it to market. We're among the few that actually get that opportunity, and we're winning competitions and recognition. It shows that we're taking the right steps and that we can make a change. Having these big players support us, like the NIH through the DEBUT challenge, just shows that even clinicians who work in this field see a future for what we're working on."

Aaron Spearman, applying to medical school and working as an EMT in Gaffney:

"It's senior design-your capstone project- so it's your ultimate chance to show what you've learned here and spread your wings. There are just so many great support mechanisms here in bioengineering. It is up to us to put in all the work, but there are so many graduate students, professors and clinicians who help along the way."

Nicholas Stiebler, accepted to the Medical University of South Carolina for medical school:

"If we can get a full, final working product. I think it would be better than what's on the market right now because it can detect the injury faster. I would hope in the long term, it could potentially save a lot of lives."

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