GraftWorx, Inc. - SmartPatch Patient Monitoring

Project Title: SmartPatch Patient Monitoring

GraftWorx is a Silicon Valley startup focusing on the wearable, medical device space. By targeting clinically actionable metrics, GraftWorx intends to make a difference in the management of specific disease states.

It takes many elements to bring our product to market. It starts with state of the art physiological sensing based on an extension of photoplethysmography (PPG). The patient is monitored with a wearable device that has been designed and built in-house which includes sensing, application management, data storage, and telemetry. This device connects to our cloud where patient data is analyzed and algorithmically processed into actionable clinical metrics. Finally, the data is presented to clinicians in a manner that integrates into their standard workflow.

Disease/Area:

GraftWorx’ first application is in the area of fluid management for patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD). Clinicians lack a good source of information about the effects of hemodialysis on the fluid status of patients, leading to a high incidence hospitalization and a higher risk of mortality. The technology also addresses this need in the cardiovascular space and has application in the management of peripheral vascular disease.

Position:

GraftWorx has a position for a biomechanical engineer with a background in PPG, spectroscopy, electrocardiography or other comparable form of physiological sensing. Position/Project summary: By pushing the boundaries of what has typically been possible with standard techniques, GraftWorx has been able to develop a system to measure heart rate, SpO2, hematocrit and volumetric blood flow within a major artery. The roadmap includes extending our sensing capabilities into additional metrics. The candidate, working with our experienced team of engineers, will play an important role in research and developmen leading to improved performance within our current indications for use, and achieving sufficient performance in our future ones. This will be achieved through hardware development, physiological modeling, benchtop model experimentation, software analysis, and clinical exploration. The details of how the intern interfaces with the team will depend on the specifics of his or her skills.

Skillset Requirement:

The candidate should have an understanding of hemodynamics and how parameters are relevant to cardiovascular disease. Some familiarity with methodologies to measure these parameters is desirable, including a familiarity with electronics, sensors, and software.

Main responsibilities will include (but are not limited to):

  • Working with our R&D team to brainstorm methods of improving performance of our existing platform.

  • Developing approaches to measure additional metrics on our roadmap that are synergistic with our current markets.

  • Development of experimental procedures to verify and validate our indications for use.

  • Conducting experiments with our benchtop model to validate these approaches.

  • Supporting clinical trials when appropriate and available to gather patient data.

  • Supporting analysis of experimental and clinical data.

Job responsibilities:

  • Researching fundamental methods of signal transduction behind the measurement of physiological parameters.

  • Performing experiments as directed by team members including the operation and cleanup of a benchtop fluidic model using equine blood.

  • Gathering data from experiments into appropriate systems for further analysis.

  • Documenting and reporting on all analysis and experimentation, including the formation of conclusions about the results.

  • Working within the companies Quality System as required.

  • Modifying software and or firmware as necessary to run experiments.

  • Supporting personnel in clinic as required.

Impact of this project to the company:

Successful refinement of existing methods and development of future indications is a very important element in our ability to earn and maintain customer engagement.

Required skills/ Qualifications:

  • Strong experimental and data analysis background

  • Familiarity with Python. Knowledge of Jupyter and Bokeh

Preferred skills/ Qualifications:

  • Background in hemodynamics and cardiovascular health

  • Working knowledge of PPG, or optical interaction with tissue and blood