Keith E. Cook, Ph.D.

An interdisciplinary team led by Keith Cook has been awarded $8.7 million dollars from the U.S. Army CDMRP program to create and integrate new technologies to sustain permanent at-home artificial lung support. Such advances will allow chronic lung disease patients to lead more normal lives in which they feel comfortable engaging in everyday activities, such as walking or driving.

More than 16 million Americans suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), with veterans being 1.5 to 3 times more likely to develop COPD versus the general population. Across the board, COPD patients experience a gradual decline in respiratory function along with acute exacerbations that lead to a transient, but dangerous, worsening of their disease state. Each year in the U.S. alone, COPD patients account for two million emergency room visits, 700,000 hospital discharges, and 156,000 deaths… Continue reading.

For tens of millions of patients who battle chronic lung diseases, present-day care options are mostly limited to short-term drug and oxygen therapy. Biomedical Engineering’s Interim Department Head and Professor Keith Cook is working on innovative technologies to advance the long-term effectiveness and future use of artificial organs to address this worldwide issue.

In new research published in Biomaterials in new window, Cook’s team combines two independent technologies, polycarboxybetaine (PCB) surface coatings and the Factor XII Inhibitor (FXII900), to keep artificial lung devices from failing due to clot formation, without creating any negative side effects. This novel combination provides a safer alternative to heparin, the current gold-standard in anticoagulation treatment, which has been known to pose bleeding risks in patients… Continue reading.

Low-cost device could address current and future shortages

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine are developing a new, low-cost ventilator they say will address the ventilator shortage, both now and in the future, that has been made evident by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dubbed Roboventilator, the device will employ CMU-developed robotic technologies and advanced sensors, filling the gap between the expensive sophisticated mechanical ventilators used in intensive care units and the current low-cost alternatives with limited capabilities being approved emergently by the Food and Drug Administration.

“We’ve already developed robotic and sensor technology that can detect force even as it drives an air pump,” said Howie Choset, professor of robotics at CMU. “When that is paired with air-management controls developed by Keith Cook, a CMU professor of biomedical engineering, we believe we can build a closed-loop system that can provide customized and appropriate ventilation to people with respiratory failure from COVID-19… Continue reading.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) has announced the induction of Keith E. Cook, Ph.D., Professor, Biomedical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, to its College of Fellows. Dr. Cook was nominated, reviewed, and elected by peers and members of the College of Fellows for significant contributions to the development of artificial lungs.