Academics & Research

UH researchers take invention into private sector

A UH-based research team is bringing the school some notoriety in the private sector with its new invention to help

UH researchers Cliff Dacso, left, and Nithin Rajan demonstrate the use of an invention aimed at bringing heart monitoring to the home. | Courtesy of Office of University Communications

patients at risk for heart failure monitor their condition at home.

The team, led by UH researchers Dr. Clifford Dacso, Nithin Rajan and Luca Pollonini, was recently awarded a Texas Emerging Technology Fund grant from the state for its work on the invention, which is named the Blue Scale.

Dacso, Rajan and Pollonini have been working since 2007 to develop the Blue Scale through UH’s partnership with Methodist Hospital Research Institute.

Dacso and Rajan started a company called Blue Box, Inc., to bring their invention into the commercial world.

“The grant was actually awarded to the company that Dr. Dacso and I started,” Rajan said. “(The Blue Scale) was developed at the university, but this is a commercial award.”

In a deal made with UH and MHRI, Blue Box, Inc. would be given the rights to patent the invention privately and pay the two partners royalties from any profits the Blue Scale earns.

“We elected to take our good ideas and move them into the marketplace,” Dacso said.

Moving into the private sector with the Blue Scale was an expirement, but so far it seems successful, Dacso said.

Their success will not only benefit them, but the University as a whole, Rajan said.

“It allows UH to demonstrate that disruptive technologies that are being developed by researchers have multiple avenues to improve the University,” Rajan said.

Any time a university shows that it is developing an applicable and disruptive technology, the school gains more recognition on a national academic level, Rajan said.

Disruptive technologies are basically technologies that challenge the status quo, Rajan said. The way the Blue Scale works allows it to shake things up in the health care field by shifting care and prevention to the home.

The Blue Scale is a weight scale that is modified to be more sensitive and equipped with a set of handlebars that monitor weight, water retention, blood flow and other data.

“We designed it to be ergonomically tailored to the user. The user just has to step onto the scale twice a day and hold onto the handlebars,” Rajan said. “It’s as easy as using a bathroom scale every morning and evening.”

The Blue Scale gathers the data and sends it wirelessly through its network to a server, where it goes through an algorithm to detect any potential risks.

The server is connected to a call center of trained medical workers who monitor the readings and alert patients if there is anything they need to worry about, Rajan said.

Mechanical engineering technology junior Andrew Dahlouh likes the idea, but is concerned about medical information, going through the server.

“I would rather have it between the doctor and the patient,” Dahlouh said. “It should notify the patient first.”

The server works similar to Amazon.com’s Whispernet network used to wirelessly transmit e-books to the Kindle.

“(The Blue Scale) has some storage capabilities on its own, in case of any problems with the network. It has some algorithms on board as well, so it can do some quick analysis on activity,” Rajan said.

Time was also a major factor in their decision to go private.

The time it takes to get something from an idea to an actual applicable device is near infinite when you are looking for public funding.

The market for good ideas moves much faster in the private sector than it does in the public, Dacso said.

The most important thing is getting the Blue Scale out there to help prevent heart failure.

“The bottom line is making a difference in people’s health,” Dacso said.

1 Comment

  • Good writing. Important story.

    Home based technology for patients is just so very important.

    Hospitals are for treatment and home is for recovery.

    And in this case the patient can monitor their own recovery.

    What could be better than that!?
    ::
    GP

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