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At 好色先生TV, breakthroughs in robotics, materials science and bioengineering are increasingly shaped by a shared goal 鈥� making health care more precise and less burdensome for patients and providers. Meet four CMU-affiliated startups that are translating academic research into tools that could improve health care for millions of Americans.听

Turning robotics research into data-driven prosthetic care

For people who need a prosthetic limb, the options are hard to navigate, with cost and functionality varying widely. CMU alumnus Josh Caputo built听 to change that. The company creates wearable robotic systems that allow researchers and clinicians to test, personalize and improve prosthetics that are right for the people who need them.听

Caputo said Humotech is translating years of robotics research into clinical care. Its prosthetic foot-selection system lets people with limb loss try different options in real time 鈥� measuring gait, balance and comfort while capturing patient feedback, much like a test drive for a car.听

鈥淧atients are usually handed one device and told, 鈥楾his is it,鈥欌�� Caputo said. 鈥淲e want to put patients in the driver鈥檚 seat and make the process more data-driven and human-centered.鈥�

Caputo鈥檚 path to entrepreneurship began at Carnegie Mellon, where his Ph.D. research in听 focused on the design and control of robotic prosthetic feet. What started as an effort to design better devices evolved into a deeper realization. The real challenge wasn鈥檛 inventing a single perfect prosthetic, but helping people choose what works best for their bodies and lives.听

鈥淭his is the kind of invention that could only come out of CMU,鈥� he said, pointing to the university鈥檚 blend of robotics, design thinking and close ties to clinical partners in Pittsburgh.

A first-of-its-kind implant system could change how chronic GI diseases are treated

For patients with chronic gastrointestinal diseases like Crohn鈥檚 disease, treatment often includes daily medications.听, is working on a different approach. They created a tiny implant that continuously delivers medicine to patients over the course of a year, then dissolves.听

About the size of a grain of rice, the implant could be placed in patients during a routine endoscopic procedure, said CMU alumnus 厂辫别苍肠别谤听惭补迟辞苍颈蝉, the company鈥檚 founder.

鈥淭he idea is to give physicians a new tool. Instead of relying on systemic drugs that circulate throughout the whole body, we can deliver existing medications more effectively by putting them right where they鈥檙e needed,鈥� he explained.听

Matonis worked alongside two practicing gastroenterologists to design the device, which he said represents a first-of-its-kind therapeutic intervention for Crohn鈥檚 disease. The technology is designed as a platform, meaning it could eventually be adapted for use with multiple medications for diseases like ulcerative colitis and other conditions.听

Edulis is still in the preclinical stage, but the company has already completed four proof-of-concept studies in animal models. They are currently seeking investors to support their next phase of development to work toward clinical trials in humans.听

For Matonis, the goal is to transform how chronic GI diseases are treated by making therapies more precise, more durable and easier for patients to live with.

鈥淚f we can give patients a year of sustained treatment from a single, minimally invasive procedure,鈥� he said, 鈥渢hat could be a major shift in how these diseases are managed.鈥�

Building living tissue for diabetes treatment

Another CMU-affiliated startup,听, is taking a unique approach to treating disease: building living human tissue.

A spinout from the lab of CMU professor听Adam Feinberg(opens in new window), FluidForm Bio is based on advances in 3D bioprinting that allow researchers to create complex biological structures using materials found naturally in the body, like collagen. The company鈥檚 technology prints cells and proteins inside a supportive gel, enabling far more precise and biologically realistic tissue structures than traditional methods.

FluidForm Bio鈥檚 primary focus is treating Type 1 diabetes by creating pancreatic-like tissue designed to restore the organ鈥檚 insulin production. Rather than managing symptoms, the approach is designed to help people regain abilities they've lost to disease.听

The technology has already been tested in mouse models, and the company is raising funds to support large-animal studies, the final step before clinical trials.

鈥淭his is really about making human tissue that can work in the body,鈥� Feinberg said. 鈥淥nce we realized we could reliably print collagen 鈥� the body鈥檚 main structural protein 鈥� it opened the door to therapies that weren鈥檛 previously realistic.鈥�

Beyond diabetes, FluidForm Bio is also part of a听federally funded ARPA-H project(opens in new window) to build functional human liver tissue. The goal is to create temporary liver support for patients with acute liver failure, allowing their own organs time to regenerate and potentially reducing the need for transplants.

鈥淚f this works the way we believe it can,鈥� Feinberg said, 鈥渋t could fundamentally change how we think about treating disease 鈥� not with drugs alone, but with living tissue.鈥�

Helping surgeons see what they can鈥檛 feel

In many surgical procedures, even experienced clinicians must rely on subjective evaluation and what they can infer rather than quantitative data, a gap听 is working to close. The company makes sensor-enabled surgical tools to provide direct, objective feedback and enhance surgeon perception..听

Take cochlear implants, small devices designed to restore the sense of hearing to patients.

鈥淐ochlear implantation is an extremely delicate microsurgical procedure, but today, surgeons lack direct feedback once the device enters the inner ear,鈥� alumnus Jay Reddy explained. 鈥淎dvanced Optronics is about enhancing surgeon perception during minimally invasive procedures.鈥�听

The company grew out of Reddy鈥檚 research at Carnegie Mellon, where he began exploring how advanced microfabrication techniques could be applied to medical devices. The technology developed at Advanced Optronics is undergoing preclinical validation with surgeons, including early testing in Pittsburgh.听

鈥淥ur goal isn鈥檛 to replace surgical skill,鈥� Reddy said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 to give surgeons better information at the moments when it matters most.鈥�

By turning subtle physical signals into quantitative feedback, Advanced Optronics is helping to make complex procedures more consistent and predictable, an approach that reflects a broader shift across CMU-rooted health startups toward precision tools that support both patients and providers.