Three USC Viterbi engineers have received a prestigious $2-million grant from the National Science Foundation for a joint research project on a wireless, multi-sensor system for the early detection of shunt malfunctions in people with excessive brain fluid.

“I’m pretty thrilled to win this,” said principal investigator Dr. Ellis Meng, an associate professor in biomedical engineering and electrical engineering. “We get to use some of the technologies we’ve been incubating, including sensors that work in water.”

The NSF’s Office of Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) awarded the four-year grant, the second time in recent years that a team of USC researchers has landed the competitive award.

Meng and co-principal investigators Dr. Malancha Gupta, an assistant professor in chemical engineering and materials science, and Dr. James Weiland, Professor of Ophthalmology and Biomedical Engineering, hope to devise a way to embed or integrate sensors into shunts for people with hypocephalus. A chronic, incurable condition characterized by excess fluid in the brain, hypocephalus affects an estimated one in 1,000 newborns and includes symptoms such as headaches, nausea and dizziness.