Nerve regeneration is critical for recovery after trauma, yet doctors currently lack the tools to monitor it quantitatively without painful and invasive procedures.
As a Schmidt Science Fellow, Colton will address this challenge by developing a new method that allows doctors to visually quantify nerve growth. His approach uses polymers patterned with ultrasound-active metal and wrapped around nerve grafts, allowing changes in the nerve’s electric field during growth to be detected and quantified using ultrasound imaging.
Colton’s new technology has the potential to not only help doctors track their patients’ recovery but also to serve as a platform for future nerve-sensing devices, opening new avenues for electrical “smart” materials in biological applications.
Colton will pivot from Electrochemistry to Biomedical Engineering