February 14, 2017
The University of Pittsburgh Innovation Institute reported that Pitt Innovators were issued 9 U.S. patents in January 2017.
Featured Patent
US 9,554,777 "Methods and Apparatuses for Measuring Tissue Stiffness Changes Using Ultrasound Elasticity Imaging"
Associate Professor of Medicine Kang Kim, postdoctoral fellow Jingping Xu, and Jonathan Rubin, Professor of Mathematics and Computational and Systems Biology, have developed a new method of characterizing tissue stiffness using ultrasound elasticity imaging. Their method can identify subtle stiffness changes and differentiate between acutely inflamed tissue or chronically fibrosed tissues, which was not possible using conventional ultrasound elasticity imaging. The innovation has the potential for more timely and accurate diagnosis of diseases such as Chrohn's. For more information about this technology, contact licensing associate George Coulston.
Below is a listing of all patents received by Pitt Innovators in January 2017.
| Patent Number | Title | Inventor(s) | Licensing Manager | Status |
| 9,532,999 | Novel TLR4 Inhibitors for the Treatment of Human Infectious and Inflammatory Disorders | Peter Wipf; Matthew Neal; Chhinder Sodhi; David Hackam | Maria Vanegas | Optioned |
| 9,538,940 | Intelligent Algorithms for Tracking Three-Dimensional Skeletal Movement From Radiographic Image Sequences | Scott Tashman; Georgeta Marai; Md Abedul Haque | Carolyn Weber | Licensed |
| 9,539,338 | Polymer-Based Protein Engineering Methods to Rationally Tune Enzyme Activity, PH-Dependence and Stability | Alan Russell; Richard Koepsel; Hironobu Murata; Chad Cummings | Janice Panza | Available for Licensing |
| 9,546,144 | Bifunctional Compounds | Melissa Sprachman; Michael Epperly; Joel Greenberger; Peter Wipf; Julie Goff | Alex Ducruet | Available for Licensing |
| 9,549,980 | Use of Toll-Like Receptor-9 Agonists, and/or Nuclear Oligomerization Domain-2 Agonists for the Treatment or Prevention of Toll-Like Receptor-4 Associated Disorders | David Hackam | Maria Vanegas | Available for Licensing |
| 9,551,720 | Urine Biomarkers for Prediction of Recovery After Acute Kidney Injury Protein | John Kellum; Kai Singbartl | Alex Ducruet | Licensed |
| 9,554,777 | Methods and Apparatuses for Measuring Tissue Stiffness Changes Using Ultrasound Elasticity Imaging | Jingping Xu; Kang Kim; Jonathan Rubin | George Coulston | Available for Licensing |
| 9,555,095 | Computationally Optimized Broadly Reactive Antigens for H5N1 and H1N1 | Ted Ross; Corey Crevar; Donald Carter Jr. | Andrew Remes | Licensed |
| 9,556,252 | Use of Endostatin Peptides for the Treatment of Fibrosis | Carol Feghali-Bostwick; Yukie Yamaguchi | Maria Vanegas | Licensed |