A novel way to monitor and treat hardening arteries from inside the body, and a clever method to provide covert monitoring and communications, are the winners of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory’s (APL) Invention of the Year and Government Purpose Innovation awards for 2010.
This year’s winners were selected from 155 inventions that were disclosed at APL during the past calendar year, filed by more than 280 inventors. The Invention of the Year winner was chosen by an outside review panel of 30 representatives from industry, the high tech sector and patent law. New this year is APL’s Government Purpose Innovation Award, intended to recognize an invention that has the potential to make a major impact within the lab’s sponsor community.
The winners were named at the 12th annual Invention of the Year Award Reception, held on the APL campus in Laurel. Attendees included Ralph Semmel, director of APL, and representatives from state and local officials and agencies.
• Invention of the Year: Jason Benkoski, George Coles Jr., Chao-Wei Hwang, Robert Matteson III, Jon Resar, Hala Tomey and Morgana Trexler for Implantable Pressure-Actuated Drug-Delivery Systems. These systems modify stents, which are the devices inserted to reopen and protect arteries suffering from atherosclerosis (“hardening of the arteries”). A microchip that contains a pressure sensor and a diaphragm filled with drugs is placed within the stent; when the sensor detects a predetermined change in blood pressure — such as during a heart attack — the microchip automatically delivers blood-thinning drugs intravenously. This invention is the result of a collaborative effort between the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and APL.
• Government Purpose Innovation Award: John Klimek for Naturally Occurring Indigenous Sound Emulation (NOISE). NOISE uses modified bioacoustic sounds produced by species native to specific areas — birds, insects, small mammals — to create a communication network that can covertly record and report complex data on activity and terrain. Klimek says he got the idea one summer while sitting outside his house and listening to bugs and birds communicating.
Technology Transfer at APL
APL opened its Office of Technology Transfer in late 1999 to facilitate the transfer of APL-developed technology to the private sector. The lab ranks among the top research universities in its number of inventions, licenses, patent applications, patents issued, startup companies, and associated research and development income.
APL technologies have been transferred to companies across Maryland and in 36 other states, as well as in Canada, Brazil, the Netherlands and Denmark. Other accomplishments during the office’s 12 years include the following.
• 1,581 inventions disclosed
• 296 U.S. patents issued
• 1,497 U.S. patent applications filed
• 276 license agreements executed
• 23 start up companies; more than 50 jobs created
• More than $33.6 million in licensing and related research and development income
• 52 products based on licensed APL technologies
For more information on APL’s Technology Transfer programs, visit www.jhuapl.edu/ott.
