Faculty kudos: McCully receives patent for muscle mitochondria test
With the help of the University of Georgia’s Innovation Gateway initiative, Kevin McCully, a professor in the Department of Kinesiology, and Terence Ryan, a postdoctoral scholar at East Carolina University, recently received a patent on a blood volume correction they developed to perfect the results of a muscle mitochondria test.
The non-invasive test uses near infrared light to measure oxygen levels in the muscle. After an inflatable pressure cuff is inflated and released multiple times on a patient’s artm or leg, the results from the measurement form an exponential curve, which can be analyzed to determine an individual’s muscle health.
While the test seemed to work on athletes, McCully began noticing a blip in the results for patients with spinal cord injuries and other health issues, such as ALS, multiple sclerosis, and cystic fibrosis. As it turns out, small errors caused by the pressure cuff were throwing off the results.
The patent not only corrects the errors caused by the cuff, but also makes it easier for researchers, doctors, and clinicians to diagnose and treat patients with problems ranging from fatigue and muscle weakness to peripheral vascular disease and heart failure.