Grant: Emerging Team Grant: Regenerative Medicine and Nanomedicine - LOI

The challenging pediatric problem of hydrocephalus is increasing in adults with dementia. A treatment, though problematic, for both demographics involves cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) diversionary shunt systems. The research teams' objective is to develop a novel, innovative and simplified shunt system; the Intracalvarial Infusion System (ICIS) will utilize the physiological dural CSF absorption system via the diploic space of the skull. The focus of this proposal is the development of an Intracalvarial Infusion Device (ICID) as an element of ICIS. The bone integrated design of ICID must provide a high bone-implant contact (BIC) ratio for biomechanical stability and to preclude extracalvarial CSF leakage. Equally, the endosteal port and terminus of ICID must inhibit bone contact so that CSF flow into the diploic space remains unobstructed. The ICID must also contribute to microfluidic flow of CSF for unidirectional control and damping of pulsatile CSF flow. Nanostructured and biofunctional materials will form the basis of the ICID interface design while novel macro ICID designs will be developed concurrently.