During my Masters program at the University of Pittsburgh, I worked on a team with two other students, one professor, and one physician to ideate and develop a shunt applicator for use in fetus with hydrocephalus. I conducted most of the design of the applicator while the other members were more involved with testing and documentation.

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Currently, the only way to intervene for fetal hydrocephalus is to cut open teh womb and insert a shunt into the fetus' skull to drain the excess fluid. This novel device provides a minimally invasive surgical intervention method to insert the shunt and reduce operation risk and cost. 

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I worked to prototype the device in SolidWorks and 3D print iterations as testing was conducted to fine tune the design. We concluded the project with testing of shunt delivery in hydrocephalus-induced sheep fetuses in Dr. Stephen Emery's research lab. The final design worked to deliver the shunt to the fetus and drained fluid out of the skull, but more work is still required for the applicator to be ready for clinical trials in humans.

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Below are images taken during the development and testing of the shunt applicator.