Convening & Learning Program:
MIT 2.75 Physician/Student Course

Since 2004, the MIT 2.75 Precision Machine Design fall-term course has partnered with CIMIT to bring together Boston-area physicians and MIT engineering students in developing new medical devices.

Physicians present their particular challenges then student teams work with them during the course of a semester to develop solutions. Over the years, this class has become a highly effective mechanism for generating new research ideas and collaborations with patents filed and many of the projects receiving subsequent funding and accelerating from prototypes to products. Projects identified to have a significant impact with a viable market can be continued into the spring term for the next level implementation.

Attention Class of 2012-2013: Call for Proposals

Do you have a clinical challenge that needs a new medical device? CIMIT affiliated clinicians are invited to submit applications to work with teams of MIT mechanical and electrical engineering students to create prototype solutions to clinical challenges. This year we are partnering with Electrical Engineering and Computer Science to support projects requiring the development of mechanical and electrical hardware. For details, download the information packet.

Key Dates:

• Two page proposals due July 15, 2012
• Finalists notified August 6, 2012
• Presentation to students made 3rd week of September 2012

This is an exciting opportunity to work closely with highly-motivated students in addressing a pressing challenge and we look forward to your applications. Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can assist in any way.

• For general course questions, please contact Prof. Alexander Slocum.
• For specific proposal questions, please contact Nevan Hanumara.
• For questions pertaining to CIMIT, please contact Dr. Rajiv Gupta.

Robopsy Invented by MIT 2.75 Team Led by Dr. Rajiv Gupta

Robopsy, a robotic device to assist radiologists performing soft tissue probe insertions, was invented by an MIT 2.75 team led by CIMIT Investigator Rajiv Gupta, MD. The team was awarded the 2007 MIT $100K prize, the world's leading entrepreneurship competition, and the first-place award at the 2008 ASME Innovation Showcase.

Robopsy will help interventional radiologists perform soft tissue probe insertions with greater speed and accuracy and reduced complications and physician strain. The device is a small, patent-pending, lightweight, inexpensive, disposable, radiolucent, telerobotic tool which adheres directly to a patient inside the CT bore. Guided by the radiologist in the control room, it remotely grips, orients and inserts a standard biopsy needle, or other probe, while permitting simultaneous imaging of the needle location. The entire system is CT scanner independent and portable, packing away into a single case.

Benefits for patients: more precise interventions, earlier diagnoses and fewer complications.

Benefits for doctors and hospitals: more consistent performance, better imaging equipment utilization and less stressful procedures.

Projects 2004—2011