Chinaza’s talk, “A Smart Implant for Safer Surgeries,” wins the Webb-Donnell Communication Competition held by the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. She presented her work on a novel implantable sensor that’s wirelessly interrogatable, biodegradable, and capable of detecting pH, trypsin, and blood; three key biomarkers that signal post-surgical leaks. She has demonstrated early detection performance of pH in benchtop models and is currently fabricating our trypsin sensors and blood sensors will follow. The next step after that is testing in ex vivo biological systems, to validate function in tissue-like environments. This is where we start translating engineering into clinical reality. This work is a move toward proactive surgical recovery—where we’re not just treating symptoms, but listening to biology in real time. Congratulations Chinaza!
