Project Grant R44HL140709

This National Science Foundation (NSF) Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (CFDA 47.084) Project Grant awarded $274,440 to Vine Medical Inc., a for-profit manufacturing company, to develop a proof-of-concept for a self-deploying endotracheal intubation device. The proposed soft robotics system aims to achieve over a 90% first-pass intubation success rate, which would improve patient outcomes and reduce complications during emergency airway management procedures. The device is designed to...

This Project Grant awarded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), under the federal Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research program (CFDA 93.394), provides $399,789 to Ergami Endoscopy, Inc. to develop an automated robotic flexible overtube device capable of blind insertion during colonoscopy procedures. The device aims to reduce physician injuries, improve productivity, and decrease patient pain/sedation requirements for the over 16 million colonoscopies performed annually in the U.S. Key...

The National Science Foundation awarded Juggernaut Life Sciences LLC a $256,000 Project Grant under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program (CFDA 47.084) to develop a smart, semi-autonomous fluid drainage system for surgical procedures. The one-year project will create a prototype robotic device with integrated ultrasound probe, anesthetic syringe, scalpel, and aspiration needle to demonstrate the feasibility of semi-autonomously performing paracentesis procedures to drain...

The National Science Foundation awarded a $256,000 Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I Project Grant to develop a minimally invasive articulating intubation stylet. The grant period runs from June 15, 2021 through May 31, 2022 under the Engineering (47.041) program. This program aims to foster innovation and excellence in engineering research and education across various fields. Funds will support the awardee, located in Blaine, Minnesota, to research and develop a new medical device...

This Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Division of Industrial Innovation, under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041), provides $256,000 to Colabs, Inc. to develop an automated airway and ventilator system that eliminates human operator variability during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The system aims to reliably place an airway tube for ventilation, synchronize air delivery with chest compressions, and enable cardiac defibrillation at lower voltages through an electrode...

This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) is funding research to enable a new type of highly configurable, multi-segment robot snake. The goal is to create robots with up to 100 joints and segments, which would more than double the current state-of-the-art. This robot design could enable new capabilities for manufacturing tasks like inspecting confined spaces, as well as surgical applications that require accessing locations in the body...

This $256,000 National Science Foundation project grant supports the development of an automated chest tube to prevent clotting. Circulatech LLC will design and prototype a novel chest tube that proactively manages fluid flow within the catheter lumen to flush and drain the tube, reducing blood clot formation. Through a process called "dilutional coagulopathy," the tube will use sterile saline or anticoagulants to reduce thrombosis in the drainage space rather than relying on...

This National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) project grant award of $731,541 to the Regents of the University of California at Riverside (UC Riverside) will create a new class of microfabricated mesoscale surgical robots with shape-memory alloy (SMA) actuators, integrated sensors, and advanced control algorithms. The goal is to develop soft robots capable of safely navigating within the human body and performing dexterous manipulation of soft tissue for minimally...

This $274,547 Project Grant awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (CFDA 47.084) program aims to develop a novel Aneurysm Sealing Device (ASD) for endovascular treatment of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms (AAA). The project seeks to create a device that can completely seal the aneurysm sac, reducing the risk of post-procedure complications and the need for repeat interventions. Key objectives include validating the device's adaptability...

Federal Grant Award Summary Surgical Vision Systems, Inc. received a $264,016 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program (CFDA 47.084) on June 1, 2025, for the development of a semi-autonomous, image-guided robotic suturing system. The company will design and develop a novel robotic surgery platform integrating optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging with robotic microvascular suturing...