Washington Technology Center (WTC) awarded $30,000 in July to Hong Shen, UW assistant professor of chemical engineering, and EKOS Corporation, a Bothell-based medical device company, for a project that aims to improve the company's proprietary catheter-based drug-delivery system.

The project was one of seven in Washington to receive funding as part of WTC’s Research and Technology Development program. UW researchers are involved in six of the projects, with four from the UW College of Engineering.

UW will receive $30,000 in Phase I Research and Technology Development funding from WTC and another $6,000 from EKOS Corporation for the project, titled “Development of an algorithm to accurately predict ‘end of therapy’ in ultrasound-facilitated thrombolysis.”

Catheter-directed thrombolysis (CDT) is a therapy for patients with vascular diseases such as deep vein thrombosis. However, current use of CDT is associated with high costs. These costs are due to technology limitations that result in doctors prescribing larger than necessary drug dosages and longer durations of therapy.

In this Phase I project, Shen and EKOS plan to analyze patient data to develop an algorithm that will better predict the end of CDT therapy. Follow-up projects will involve the development and launch of the resulting software upgrade. EKOS plans to add this new technology to its current product line, potentially making CDT a more attractive and economical treatment option for doctors and patients.

WTC’s Research and Technology Development program enables collaboration between Washington companies and non-profit research institutions on technology projects that show strong potential for commercializing products and creating jobs.

For more information, see the WTC's news release.