Dr. Brace’s Gel Team Awarded More Funding

Posted on May 2012

The good news keeps coming for Dr. Brace and his hydrodissection gel team! The project was recently awarded a 2012-2013 Innovation and Economic Development grant.

The one-year grant, worth $50,000, begins July 1, 2012 and will go directly towards funding Dr. Brace’s lab’s award winning project, “Thermoreversible Barrier for Hydrodissection During Ablation.” In addition, the team was also chosen to receive a 2012 Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) Technology Development Research Assistant award. This award supports one research assistant for one full-year for 50% time.

The hydrodissection gel project originated in the Biomedical Engineering Design course as a search for a material that could be injected through a 19-gauge needle, then become more solid once inside the body to prevent migration or rapid absorption. Furthermore, the material had to be biocompatible, and not interfere with imaging.

The group decided to work with poloxamer 407, a thermoreversible material that is a liquid at lower temperatures and gels at higher temperatures. This material is believed to be an outstanding substance for performing hydrodissection during thermal ablation or similar minimally invasive procedures.

Congrats, we look forward to more great news from this project!