Tired of ads? Subscribers enjoy a distraction-free reading experience.
Click here to subscribe today or Login.

WILKES-BARRE — Two Wilkes University professors filed patent applications for health care innovations, the first intellectual property rights’ submissions for the 82-year-old school.

Ali Razavi, professor of mechanical engineering, and Abas Sabouni, assistant professor of electrical engineering, filed the applications separately for their projects, the school said Wednesday.

Razavi worked with chemistry and microbiology professors and students to develop a new compound with remarkable healing properties, that the school described as a “game changer” in treating burn victims and skin wounds for diabetics and others. Testing on animals has shown the substance to be safe in closing wounds faster and with better outcomes, the school said.

“The efficacy of the compound is remarkable; it encourages wounds to heal in a natural way,” Razavi said.

He said wants to establish a company in Wilkes-Barre to commercialize the compound. “This kind of biotechnology spin-off from the university can encourage our graduates to stay in the local area,” he said.

Sabouni has been interested in applying electrical engineering principles to achieve advancements in healthcare. He developed a non-invasive, real-time method for tracing the effects of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. The therapy can be helpful in treating depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. It also can measure the connection between the primary motor cortex and a muscle to evaluate damage from spinal cord injuries. It may have further use treating neurological problems such as stroke and Parkinson’s disease, the school said.

“This transformative and integrative research will accelerate the understanding of neural and cognitive systems,” Sabouni said.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved procedure has been used since 2008 but, until developments made by the Wilkes team, there has been no way to provide visual feedback on the effects of the treatment in real-time, the school said.

The procedure employs pulsed magnetic fields to induce electrical currents in neuronal tissues to produce therapeutic effects in the brain. Sabouni has been able to capture high-resolution images of the currents. Pinpointing the area of the brain in need of stimulation allows for faster and less expensive treatments and a concentration of lower doses of current, the school said.

“These faculty accomplishments are noteworthy, because they show that even a small university can make a significant impact toward advancing technology and improving lives,” Wilkes President Patrick F. Leahy said. “We will continue to offer our students transformative educational experiences and opportunities to work with faculty in developing additional innovations to shape the world.”