Pitt innovators were issued 11 U.S. patents in March 2025.
Featured patent: 12,239,776: Sensing Cannula Sleeve
Current surgical instruments utilized for fat grafting are blindly passed through tissue. Pitt innovators have created proprietary tissue-sensing technology that distinguishes fat from muscle or blood by detecting a change in physical tissue properties. This novel design provides an audible alert or visual indicator (e.g. red light or blinking strobe) to notify the surgeon of the cannula location and tissue type. They have designed both a stand-alone ‘smart’ cannula as well as a ‘smart’ sleeve which can be used to retrofit an existing cannula for high-demand cosmetic and other surgeries.
For more information on this technology, including licensing, contact us at partner@pitt.edu.
Below is a listing of all patents issued to Pitt innovators in March 2025. You can also search all Pitt technologies available for licensing.
| Patent Number |
Title | Inventor(s) | Licensing Manager | Status | |||
| 12,239,767 | Dissolvable Microneedle Arrays for Transdermal Delivery to Human Skin | Geza Erdos; Louis Falo; Burak Ozdoganlar | Andrew Remes | Licensed | |||
| 12,259,397 | Biomarkers Related to Organ Function | Paulo Fontes; John Kellum Jr. | Alex Ducruet | Available for Licensing | |||
| 12,258,639 | Cross-Assembly Phage DNA Sequences, 5 Primers and Probes for PCR Based Identification of Human Fecal Pollution Sources | Kyle Bibby; Orin Shanks; Elyse Stachler | Maria Vanegas | Licensed | |||
| 12,251,427 | Reduced Oxygen Carriers and Their Use for the Treatment of Carboxyhemoglobinemia | Mark Gladwin; Jason Rose; Jesus Tejero; Qinzi Xu | Maria Vanegas | Licensed | |||
| 12,246,049 | Oncolytic Viruses Targeting Stat3 | Daniel Byrd; Stephen Thorne | Maria Vanegas | Available for Licensing | |||
| 12,257,266 | Stem Cell-Derived Exosomes for the Treatment of Corneal Scarring | Sophie Deng; James Funderburgh | Maria Vanegas | Available for Licensing | |||
| 12,254,710 | Predicting Cancer Recurrence From Spatial Multi-Parameter Cellular and Subcellular Imaging | Srinivas Chennubhotla; Douglass Taylor; Shikar Uttam | Tara Branstad | Licensed | |||
| 12,239,776 | Sensing Cannula Sleeve | William Calrk; Cameron Dezfulian; April Lawrence; Eshan Qaium; Joseph Rubin; David Turer | Janice Panza | Available for Licensing | |||
| 12,251,373 | Compounds and Methods of Treating Retinal Degeneration | Yuanyuan Chen; Krzysztof Palczewski | Maria Vanegas | Available for Licensing | |||
| 12,255,555 | Self-Sensing and Self-Charging Multifunctional Materials | Amir Alavi | Janice Panza | Available for Licensing | |||
| 12,241,798 | Self-Aware Composite Mechanical Metamaterials and Methods for Making Same | Amir Alavi | Janice Panza | Available for Licensing |