Duke Students Innovate New Device for POTS Patients

Patients with the syndrome have disruptions to their autonomic body processes

A device featuring an adjustable mechanism
A rendering of the Uplift device featuring an adjustable mechanism that allows patients to engage and disengage compression as needed throughout the day.

This is a summary of a story that originally appeared on the Pratt School of Engineering.

A team of Duke biomedical engineering students turned a class project into a new medical device startup to help people with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, or POTS.

POTS affects how the body controls basic automatic functions, such as keeping blood flowing properly when we stand up. In people with POTS, the body doesn’t adjust blood flow the way it should. As a result, sometimes as much as 30 percent of a patient’s blood pools in the legs and abdomen instead of circulating upward. This can cause dizziness, extreme tiredness, a racing heartbeat, and trouble thinking clearly.

Traditional treatments involve compression therapy. However, many of the products on the market are uncomfortable or don’t deliver enough pressure where it’s needed most.

The students came up with a device called Uplift. It uses a patent-pending cinching system that delivers therapeutic pressure while maintaining comfort for extended wear.

For Kishen Mitra, the project became personal when someone close to him was diagnosed with POTS. Seeing how difficult it was to navigate life with a condition few people understand, he realized how underserved the community is.

“I was determined to help change that,” Mitra said. He and Sara Taube joined Duke’s Design Health program, which brings together students from engineering, medicine, business, and other fields to design solutions to real-world health problems. “Design Health seemed like a perfect fit for (my) goal,” Mitra said.

Mitra and Taube formed a team with Master of Engineering students Lokesh Kumar Manivannan and Shruthi Parameswaran, and medical student Sameer Kunte.

The Design Health program encourages students to observe clinical settings, talk directly with patients and medical professionals, and design devices that address genuine needs. Over the past decade, Design Health has been successful at turning student projects into award-winning innovations and even commercial products.

For more information, go to the Pratt School of Engineering.