More 2025 Capstone Innovations
Carle Illinois College of Medicine's 2025 Capstone projects leverage technology to provide tangible solutions to health challenges, from women's health to emergency care.
Women's Health
DilaSure: An Expansile Cervical Dilator
Dilasure is a new balloon dilation and stent-like device aimed at improving patient safety and comfort, while streamlining cervical dilation, a necessary step in most gynecologic procedures including biopsies, hysteroscopies, and IUD insertions. Current dilation methods rely on inserting a series of rigid metal dilators of increasing width, one after another, to gradually open the cervix. The pressure needed to push each rod through the cervix can cause uterine perforation, cervical lacerations, and intraperitoneal hemorrhage. To increase safety and efficiency, Dilasure combines dilation and access into one device. The device gently expands the cervix using a balloon. Once the cervix is open, the outer part of the device stays in place, allowing the doctor to pass necessary instruments through the center of the device without removing it. Unlike existing tools on the market, Dilasure keeps the cervix open throughout the procedure while protecting the cervical lining from further friction and potential injury.
The Dilasure team includes the following collaborators:
CI MED MD Candidates: Anisha Mittal, Kellie Mullany, Drishti Bhardwaj
Engineering Partners: (The Grainger College of Engineering): Roshan Bhagwakar, Hailey Waltenburg, Yasmine Khan, Yuxuan Duan, Olivia Szelazek, Adam Winding, Marc Leber, Ashley Tran, Anthony Chen, Trisha Patnaik, Aphra Quadra.
MBA Partners: (Gies College of Business): Prescott Paulin, Ines Weitgasser, Asha Brown, Rina Pate
Faculty Advisors: Professor Michael Oelze (CI MED and Electrical & Computer Engineering); Professor Ravi Mehta (Gies College of Business); Dr. Karen White CI MED and Carle Foundation Hospital
Beta Biofluidics: A Saliva-Based Pregnancy Test
Beta Biofluidics is developing a rapid, saliva-based pregnancy test to improve accessibility, convenience, and efficiency of reproductive health diagnostics. The innovation leverages innovative biofluid detection techniques to accurately measure levels of beta- Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (beta-hCG) in saliva. This hormone is produced in the placenta during pregnancy. The new test provides reliable results comparable to traditional urine-based tests. It is designed for use in clinical settings (emergency departments, outpatient and rural centers, etc.), eliminates the need for urine collection, and provides fast results.
The Beta Biofluidics team includes CI MED students Ryan Monjazeb (team lead and CEO) and Maddie Minneci (Chief Research Officer); and Gies College of Business MBA Candidate Dan Denslow (Chief Operating Officer).
Rural & Specialized Health Solutions
VOCA Health: Non-invasive Voice Disorder Treatment Monitoring
VOCA Health is a platform designed to provide convenient, objective monitoring for adults in the United States who are affected by voice disorders. The innovation could be particularly important for patients whose vocal health is key to their professional or personal lives, including singers, teachers, performers, and broadcasters.
“One in ten adults in the U.S. has a voice disorder, only 10% of those go to the doctor, and only half will seek care because of [the current] subjective and invasive assessment methods,” VOCA Health developer Shreya Rangarajan said.
Currently, diagnosing and monitoring voice disorders relies on subjective evaluations and invasive procedures like laryngoscopy, which involves inserting a camera into the patient’s nose or mouth to examine the voice box and throat. The VOCA Health app represents a shift away from the traditional monitoring paradigm in favor of a new non-invasive, data-driven solution.
VOCA Health’s mobile platform allows patients to record voice samples from virtually anywhere and upload them to the cloud, where they are analyzed using key objective metrics. Assessments include fundamental frequency, pitch, tone, volume, shimmer, and jitter. The results are then shared with health care providers, for timely and accurate monitoring between appointments. The team’s prototype integrates advanced algorithms with user-friendly mobile technology, with plans to include iterative feedback.
VOCA Health is poised to expand access to care for patients who live far away from specialists or are unable to make appointments due to financial or transportation constraints. The system also includes educational resources including voice exercises designed to empower patients to manage their vocal health.
VOCA Health was selected to compete in the finals of the 2025 Cozad New Venture Challenge pitch competition. In 2022, VOCA won the AWARE (Accelerating Women And underRepresented Entrepreneurs) prize from the Grainger College of Engineering and the Founders Best Newcomer cash prize at the Cozad New Venture Challenge.
The VOCA Health team includes the following collaborators:
CI MED MD Candidates: Shreya Rangarajan and Zelda Moran.
Technology to Improve Emergency Care
FastPads: Facilitating Pre-Hospital Ultrasound Use
In a medical emergency with the potential for internal bleeding or organ damage, early access to ultrasound before arriving at the hospital may mean a world of difference in the patient’s outcome. Carle Illinois College of Medicine physician-innovators Chris Rouillard, Noah Nigh, and Andrew Hyde have developed FAST Pads, the first ultrasound-compatible gel pad system designed to train emergency medical professionals in the Focused Assessment with Sonography in Trauma (FAST) exam before the patient arrives at the hospital. The innovation would allow emergency medical service personnel to perform an ultrasound en route to the hospital and relay the results to the awaiting medical team. Rouillard says his team’s product can save lives by provide medical personnel with crucial information to improve patient management decisions, patient transportation decisions, and shorten the time to the operating room when surgery is needed.
The team won $15,000 in funding at the 2025 Cozad New Venture Challenge and will use the funding pursue a patent, with a goal of bringing the innovation to market. Rouillard will begin medical residency at the University of Washington Hospital system in July. He hopes the system's robust emergency medicine ecosystem will help him further develop FastPads for use in rural settings across the country.