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FIP Seminar: "Improving Cancer Management in Low and Middle-Income Countries through Human-Centered Biomedical Device Design"

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Wednesday, February 26, 2025
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Dr. Jenna Mueller, Assistant Professor, Fischell Department of Bioengineering, Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices, University of Maryland

Worldwide cancer deaths are project to increase 50% in the next 20 years. Over 70% of cancer-related deaths occur in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), and 50% of those deaths are considered premature. This rising cancer burden is stressing an already overwhelmed healthcare system in many LMICs. For example, pathological diagnosis of biopsies is used to diagnose a majority of cancers; however, only 30% of LMICs reported having pathology services available. Additionally, while excisional surgeries are at the foundation of cancer treatment, 90% of patients in LMICs do not have access to surgery. In struggling healthcare systems, addressing the growing cancer burden may require a new vision - one that leverages low-cost, portable, electricity-independent, and accessible biomedical technologies to improve cancer management in LMICs. Dr. Mueller's lab is focused on developing accessible biomedical technologies via a human-centered design approach to improve the management of cancer in LMICs. In this talk, Dr. Mueller will describe a combination of innovations that are at different stages in the translational pipeline to transform the management of cancer in LMICs. These innovations include: 1) gel ethanol ablation, an accessible treatment that involves injecting ethanol into a lesion to cause necrosis, and 2) a low-cost, reusable laparoscope for intra-abdominal cancer surgeries performed in LMICs.

Contact: August Burns