Federal Grant Award Summary

Vanderbilt University received a $577,334 Project Grant award dated July 9, 2026, from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) under the Cardiovascular Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.837) to develop a Sensory Airway Stent (SAS). The project, which extends through April 30, 2031, centers on designing and fabricating an innovative airway stent integrated with flexible sensors and a wearable magnetic actuation system capable of continuously monitoring stent patency and airway conditions in patients with central airway obstruction caused by lung cancer and other diseases.

The core deliverables include an optimized sensor-integrated airway stent that mimics biological ciliary sensing functions to measure mucus viscosity and layer thickness, coupled with a novel wearable magnetic actuation and remote powering system for long-term external monitoring. This technology aims to reduce the clinical burden of invasive monitoring procedures such as bronchoscopy while enabling real-time assessment of airway health conditions. The research leverages the principal investigator's prior expertise in actuation-enhanced sensing mechanisms, smart airway stents, and magnetic actuation systems to address critical gaps in current monitoring methods that rely on ultrasound imaging, computed tomography, or invasive endoscopic procedures.