Dr. Shiva Kotha of the Mechanical Engineering Department, recent recipient of the prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award, will apply his research funds to develop devices and techniques to treat bone-related illnesses in an effort to reduce the costs of medical care.
Kotha's background in the study of bone tissues began with graduate research on the molecular composition of bones and their behavior under mechanical loads, but his concerns have broadened to encompass the practical realities of medicine and treatment - specifically regarding the economics of how individuals seek treatment.
He said that health care presently accounts for 16 percent of the nation's gross domestic product, and should rise to 24 percent within the next decade.
"The current rising costs of health care will bankrupt the country," Kotha said.
His response is to enable treatment of distinct illnesses by way of simple devices manufactured for sale in stores that could address multiple concerns at once.
For example, to maintain oral health, he conceived a tooth-cleaning device much like tooth-whitening strips that people could apply daily to clean their teeth.
Other features of this device would simultaneously allow individuals to detect changes in their oral hygiene that may be the first signs of underlying disease.
This would eliminate the need of a doctor's attention for a preliminary diagnosis.
The device could also be used to treat the underlying illness if its design included the appropriate functions.
According to Abhijit Debroy, a 3rd-semester Ph.D., candidate in mechanical engineering who researches with Kotha, the device would employ ultrasonic vibrations to shake plaque from teeth as its primary marketed function.
Debroy is involved in molecular level research on bone structures, studying in the same field that Kotha started in while a graduate researcher.
"I am working on measuring stresses applied by bone cells on soft substrates," he said. "The hypothesis is that different cells apply different stresses on a soft gel-like substrate and thus, we can predict cell fate using these measurements."
On top of streamlining the diagnosis and treatment of various problems into simple devices, Kotha's research aims to lighten the economic burden of health care on individuals and the country.
The common commercial availability of such devices would eliminate the need for patients to interface with insurers in pursuit of treatment.
Kotha believes that in an era in which medicine addresses people individually, people will need to assume responsibility for their own well-being, and will simultaneously require freedom from costly insurance policies that may reject people with particular afflictions altogether.
As medicine becomes personalized, simple devices stand as an alternative to costly medical attention from doctors paid by way of insurance policies.
Indeed, many providers will not cover people with certain known conditions because it would be unprofitable to do so.
Kotha offers a cell phone as the closest analogy to his concept of a device that consumers could employ to monitor their own health.
Whereas the primary use of a phone is communication, the device itself consolidates multiple applications of various uses into a single unit-much as in the case of jaw-monitoring strips that clean teeth.
Furthermore, a cell phone could become a means of interfacing with medical authorities so as to avoid costly visits to doctors in person.
As the body of science applicable to medicine grows, it will be necessary to offer practical remedies without driving up the cost of treating conditions as they are discovered.
Health care already occupies a remarkable portion of national gross domestic product, suggesting that Kotha's work has been relevant for some time.
Though he says that nothing is completely original, cell phones remain a singular clear instance of innovation comparable to what he seeks.
His work is unprecedented in a medical context.
Medicine, as a field, unites science with practice. Current science and practical economic concerns demand more efficient and less costly solutions to illnesses.
With his recent endowment, Kotha aims to enable solutions effective for the long term.
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