A “Smart” Chemotherapy Port

City of Hope Engineering, 2022–23

Liaison(s): Dr. Virginia Sun, Dr. Aaron Lewis, Dr. Jonathan Yamzon
Advisor(s): Steven Santana ’06
Students(s): Kaanthi Pandhigunta (TL-S), Luke Rodley (TL-F), Kai Dettman, Noah Limpert, Sydney Riley, Xander Fries, Julia Du, Claudia Nanez

It is well-documented that a cancer patient’s post-surgery activity level highly correlates with their surgical outcomes. Medical professionals at City of Hope currently monitor patient activity with activity-monitoring watches, but patient compliance with them is low, which interrupts the continuous data collection needed to assess the patient’s recovery. To circumvent this problem, the HMC City of Hope Clinic team aims to prototype an implantable remote patient monitoring device that monitors patient activity and augments the patient’s implanted chemotherapy port.