Catheters, the thin flexible tubes inserted into the body to drain fluids in critically ill patients, are the workhorses of patient care, but they can dislodge, causing patients pain and even complications. Two Emory interventional radiologists at Emory have teamed up with biomedical engineers at Georgia Tech to develop a device to prevent catheter dislodgement.
Thanks to the Biolocity Seed Funding program, the team now has the resources and expert guidance needed to accelerate commercialization of their patented device called AnchorDoc.
“This award is an exciting step forward for AnchorDoc and reflects the strength of the translational ecosystem nurtured by Emory, Georgia Tech, and Biolocity," says Hanssen Li, who developed AnchorDoc with John T. Moon during their training in Emory Radiology's five-year Interventional Radiology-Integrated (IR) Residency program. "As interventional radiologists, we see firsthand how catheter dislodgement can lead to patient discomfort, repeat procedures, and avoidable health-care utilization. Biolocity’s support will help us advance AnchorDoc through the next stage of technical, clinical, and commercialization de-risking, with the goal of developing a practical solution that can improve catheter-based care."
Innovation Powered by Collaboration
Moon emphasizes the strength of collaboration driving the project. “We have had a very successful collaboration with Dr. Chen at Georgia Tech, and have been fortunate to work with his students including Chang Zhou, Qiyue Ma, and Sam Wilcox, as well as with the students working in our own lab, Nicholas Lima and Shreyas Naidu. The whole team has been exceptional."
Dr. Yue Chen is an associate professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering of Georgia Tech and Emory and director of the BioMedical Mechatronics (BM2) Lab. His lab co-create a working prototype, which now is now patented technology. The biomedical engineering graduate students Chang Zhou, Qiyue Ma, and Sam Wilcox, work in the BM2 Lab and helped develop the prototype.
“AnchorDoc represents the type of innovations that can happen when clinicians and engineers work together to solve real-world clinical challenges," says Chen. "Drs. Li and Moon identified an important clinical problem, and our team at Georgia Tech worked closely with them to transform their envisioned solution into a functional prototype. I’m particularly proud of the contributions made by our students, who played key roles in brainstorming, modeling, prototyping, and testing. Biolocity’s support will provide a unique opportunity to advance AnchorDoc beyond the laboratory and toward commercialization, where it has the potential to improve patient care and reduce unnecessary procedures and healthcare costs.”
The Biolocity Advantage
Through a competitive, multi-stage evaluation process, Biolocity identifies and supports technologies with strong commercialization potential. In addition to funding, teams receive intensive support in areas such as commercialization strategy, milestone development, market assessment, and pitch preparation, working alongside experienced entrepreneur advisors to accelerate progress, reduce risk, and strengthen readiness for downstream funding and market adoption.
Final cohort selection is made by Biolocity’s Oversight Committee, a multidisciplinary panel of investors, entrepreneurs, clinicians, engineers, and technology transfer leaders who evaluate each opportunity for innovation, impact, execution readiness, and commercial potential.
The AnchorDoc team will join the other 2026–2027 seed-funded teams in quarterly commercialization and milestone review meetings designed to support promising early-stage technologies as they continue to mature. Both Moon and Li will be joining the Emory Radiology faculty after graduating from the five-year residency program this summer, so they can remain at Emory while embarking on this next phase.
Completing the Innovation Circle
“We’re thrilled that both John and Hanssen are joining our faculty in the Division of Interventional Radiology and Image-Guided Medicine,” says Amit Saindane, William P. Timmie Professor of Radiology and Chair of the Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences. “They exemplify what makes our residency programs so special: encouraging resident-led innovation through special tracks and through close mentoring by faculty. And now, as faculty members, they can continue to develop novel technologies to improve patient care, something the department is known for.”
To complete the circle, Nicholas Lima, who began interning in Moon’s and Li’s Biodesign & Innovation of Minimally-Invasive Technologies (BIMIT) Lab while an undergraduate, just graduated from the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, After a transitional year internship, Lima will return to Emory to train in the Interventional Radiology-Integrated Residency program and to continue working on AnchorDoc . . .and come up with an innovation of his own? We'll see.