Collegiate Inventors Competition finalist: Kishen Mitra, B.S. ‘24

Kishen Mitra just graduated from Duke with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering in the spring, but he’s still connected with the university.

That’s because he’s trying to take research he started as a Pratt Research Fellow with Dr. Samuel Adams out of the lab and into the real world. With ongoing support from Duke mentors and offices, Mitra is developing a unique artificial meniscus replacement he’s dubbed MyMeniscus+.

With this project, Mitra is a finalist in this year’s National Inventors Hall of Fame^® Collegiate Inventors Competition. The People’s Choice Award is open now, with voting allowed once per day now through Oct. 16 at 5 p.m. ET.

We sat down with Mitra to hear a bit about his innovation journey. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How did you get interested in science?

I was born and brought up in the Space Coast of Florida, an area full of engineers and scientists. My own parents are in STEM: my mother is a primary care physician and my father is a professor in engineering. Growing up, my father would take me to his lab on some weekends. He also introduced me to the Space Coast FabLab, where I participated in summer camps and later served as a volunteer. I was fortunate to get my hands on 3D printers pretty early in life and participate in high school innovation challenges. These experiences fostered my passion for human-centered design, and really motivated me to pursue a career at the intersection of engineering and healthcare.

What brought you to Duke specifically?

Being from the South, Duke ended up being a natural fit compared to some other options that I had for my undergrad. Duke’s BME curriculum allows students to build a strong foundation through exceptional classroom instruction and problem-based learning.

What are the Duke connections of your innovation journey?

I interned at restor3d for a summer, which is actually a successful startup that spun out of Professor Ken Gall’s lab at Duke. They make personalized metal-based bone implants. I was a product development intern, and I learned about the back-end manufacturing processes. At the end of that internship, I connected with one of the surgeons that was a pioneer in using the technology, Dr. Samuel Adams. He was nice enough to let me shadow him on a case for which I had actually developed that implant.

Both of us follow sports closely and we were discussing meniscus tears, one of the most common orthopedic injuries. There seemed to be a large clinical care gap for those requiring a total meniscus replacement due to irreparable tears. I was really excited by the idea of inventing a novel customized implant solution for dense, connective tissue applications. I also knew this would be very challenging.

What is this invention that you’re currently working on?

MyMeniscus+ is an anatomic, 3D printed meniscal construct that contains internal shock absorbing networks which can ideally be tailored to a person’s specific needs. It is intended for folks with an irreparable meniscus tear that are candidates for total meniscectomy, but don’t want to end their active careers.

The reason the technology is so advantageous is that it considers a person’s knee geometry and biomechanical demands. I envision this implant to not only restore the full range of motion in a person but also reduce the likelihood of subsequent surgeries.

Currently, options are either an ill-fitting allograft or two different types of synthetic implants that are one-size-fits-all models. By 10 and 20 years after transplant, allograft failure rates exceed 25% and 60%, respectively. Early clinical studies with the non-anatomic synthetic implants indicate room for improvement with relatively high failure rates around 13% at 5 years.

The whole thesis behind this project was: Why is a 20-year-old football player receiving the same total meniscus replacement as a 45-year-old marathon runner? They have different kinds of loads on their knees.

What’s the current stage of development?

I have developed early-stage proof-of-concept prototypes. There’s a lot of further validation testing that’s needed, both in terms of optimizing that architecture and performing experiments in cadaver models.

Right now, for CIC, I’m going to be really focusing on and pitching the technology and idea itself. I have been working in partnership with Duke’s Office for Translation & Commercialization to secure IP and am running some parallel device validation experiments. It’s a long path towards actual translation and commercialization, especially considering the regulatory requirements for products that are implants.

What advice do you have for new inventors?

Two things. Number one: find the right mentors.

I’ve been fortunate to have awesome clinical mentors that have been able to validate the need for this technology and show that this is an unmet need in the orthopedic space. I’m still working on the basic science side.

And number two: find the right team.

That’s a big thing that Duke fosters. It’s really helpful to have a team or at least one or two others that can offer fresh perspectives or compatible skill sets. I think oftentimes when it’s been just me iterating through the design process, it’s a blessing and a curse. While I have full autonomy over what I want to design, I don’t necessarily have someone to suggest I’m going down a bad rabbit hole or offer fresh ideas.

Traversing the inventorship and entrepreneurship journey alone can be frustrating. Hence, it’s really important to find people that you feel comfortable talking about your products with, and people who will be there to support you through the process. I’m definitely grateful to have my support system for this project.

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Voting for year’s National Inventors Hall of Fame^® Collegiate Inventors Competition People’s Choice Award is open now, with voting allowed once per day now through Oct. 16 at 5 p.m. ET.