IEEE Young Professional’s Tech Prevents Chemotherapy-Induced Nerve Damage

Aishwarya Bandla tries to center her work around passion, people, and purpose, following the Japanese concept of ikigai, or a sense of purpose.

For the IEEE senior member, that involves transforming patient care through innovative health technology. Bandla is developing a means to help prevent nerve damage in cancer patients resulting from chemotherapy treatment, a condition known as chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy

Chemotherapy is known to cause a variety of side effects including nausea, fatigue, and hair loss, according to the American Cancer Society. But one lesser-known effect is neuropathy, Bandla says.

Peripheral neuropathy nerve damage—which also can stem from diabetes, vitamin deficiencies, and other causes—affects mostly the tips of the patient’s hands and feet. Symptoms range from persistent tingling to excruciating pain. Currently there are no approved preventative measures for the condition; cancer patients try to manage it with painkillers or, in severe cases, reducing or stopping their chemotherapy, Bandla says.

Bandla is the clinical innovation manager at Paxman Coolers, a medical equipment manufacturer headquartered in Huddersfield, England. She is developing a wearable device that cools a person’s limbs. Called the Paxman limb cryocompression system (PLCS), it’s designed to help prevent nerve damage from certain types of intravenous chemotherapy drugs. The cold temperature slows blood flow to the area, allowing less of the injected medication to reach the nerves there.

Bandla, who is based in Singapore, is also a principal investigator at the N.1 Institute for Health, the National University of Singapore (NUS), and at the National University Cancer Institute of Singapore.

An active IEEE volunteer, she follows ikigai in her work with the organization, she says, and she encourages other young professionals to do the same. She has overseen the launch of several career development and mentorship programs for IEEE Women in Engineering Singapore, IEEE Region 10 Women in Engineering, and IEEE Region 10 Young Professionals.

“Being an IEEE member,” she says, “has helped me nurture my purpose in rallying my efforts toward creating meaningful impact.”

For “her leadership in patient-centric health technology innovation and inspiring IEEE Young Professionals to drive meaningful change,” she is the recipient of this year’s IEEE Theodore W. Hissey Outstanding Young Professional Award. The award is sponsored by the IEEE Photonics and IEEE Power & Energy societies, as well as IEEE Young Professionals.

“This recognition fuels me to continue the work IEEE is doing globally to make the world a better place,” she says.

Engineering is a superpower

Bandla had a difficult time deciding whether to pursue medicine or engineering as a career, she says, but she chose the latter because it’s “a superpower that can help you create things to make life better.”

After earning her bachelor’s degree in electrical and electronics engineering in 2009 from Anna University, in Chennai, India, she joined software engineering company Infosys in Mysuru, India, as a technical consultant. She left three years later after being accepted into the neurotechnology doctoral program at NUS in Queenstown. Neurotechnology encompasses ways of directly engaging with the human brain and nervous system, including brain-computer interfaces, magnetic resonance imaging, and brain-wave monitors.

Bandla conducted her research under biomedical engineer Nitish V. Thakor, who specializes in developing brain-monitoring technologies and neuroprostheses. The IEEE Life Fellow is a professor of biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore. He also is director of the Singapore Institute for Neurotechnology, SINAPSE, a collaboration among six research universities including Johns Hopkins, NUS, and the University of Patras, in Greece.

Under Thakor’s tutelage, Bandla began her work in developing the technology she is involved with today.

Using technology to address nerve damage

In 2012 Bandla and other researchers from Thakor’s lab met with neurologist Einar Wilder Smith and oncologist Raghav Sundar from National University Hospital in Kent Ridge, Singapore, to explore how the technology could help cancer patients with peripheral neuropathy.

During chemotherapy, patients are injected with an individualized drug mixture that kills fast-dividing cells or prevents them from multiplying by damaging the cells’ DNA. But the mixture also can attack healthy cells and damage nervous-system structures, causing pain and sensitivity in the patient’s hands and feet, as explained in an article published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences.

In the meeting, the team learned about a scalp-cooling technology that helps prevent a different side effect: hair loss. A special cap is placed on the patient’s head to cool the scalp.

Inspired by that cold cap, the team set out to develop similar technology for the hands and feet. But first, in 2014, the SINAPSE lab conducted a clinical trial with National University Hospital to see if cooling the limbs would help patients with peripheral neuropathy. Existing localized cryotherapy machines used for sports therapy—which circulate ice-cooled liquid to cool an area on the body, were tested on 15 chemotherapy patients at the hospital. The team found that patients could not comfortably tolerate temperatures below 22 °C during the three-hour treatment, Bandla says.

“Being an IEEE member has helped me nurture my purpose in rallying my efforts toward creating meaningful impact.”

She suggested conducting another clinical trial, this time testing cryocompression tools rather than cryotherapy ones. Cryocompression is used for sports therapy and rehab. It combines cooling and compression—which helps reduce swelling. In the second trial, the team found that patients could tolerate temperatures as low as 11 °C for three hours, Bandla says.

The second trial ended in 2017. Bandla earned her Ph.D. that year but continued to work on the project as a SINAPSE research fellow.

In 2018 the team members began another clinical study, testing if they could safely cool a patient’s scalp and limbs simultaneously to prevent multiple side effects at once.

Throughout the five-year trial period, Bandla collected data to understand the best way to deliver cooling therapy that was safe, comfortable, and effective. The feedback she received from patients, caregivers, and the medical staff demonstrated a clear need for a device to use in the chemotherapy suite.

After the pilot trials ended in 2019, the team began designing a device alongside Richard Paxman and his team at Paxman Coolers, who leveraged their expertise in cryotherapy for side-effect management.

The portable PLCS connects to four insulated wraps, each containing a bladder filled with coolant. The wraps cover a patient’s forearms, hands, shins, and feet and include velcro flaps that can be adjusted for a better fit. The PLCS circulates the coolant through the wraps and powers the compression. It also keeps the coolant temperature at 11 °C.

During every chemotherapy cycle, 30 minutes before the medication is administered, the wraps are placed on the patient’s forearms and shins to begin the cooling process. After the session ends, the device is used on the patient for 30 more minutes, Bandla says.

The team was granted two U.S. patents for the PLCS.

In 2022 Bandla joined Paxman as a research and development manager, and she was promoted to clinical innovation manager two years later.

The impact her work has had keeps her motivated to continue, she says.

The PLCS is being tested in a large-scale clinical trial in 25 U.S. hospitals in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute.

Two years ago Bandla attended a social innovation camp for school students in India.Aishwarya Bandla

Starting her IEEE volunteer journey

Thakor introduced Bandla to IEEE. An active member of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, he encourages his students to participate in its conferences and to publish papers in its journals.

Bandla says volunteering with IEEE was a no-brainer for her. Her volunteerism began in 2012 with IEEE Women in Engineering Singapore. In 2019 she became its chair and launched the WIE Singapore Networking Night to help build camaraderie between the IEEE Singapore Section and technologists in industry, academia, and government. The annual event includes panel discussions.

In 2021 Bandla joined the IEEE Region 10 Women in Engineering committee as the technical and Young Professionals lead. There she helped launch MentorHer, an eight-week program in which experts help their mentees design and implement a professional development plan. Bandla created the program’s framework.

“After the pilot program was completed in 2021, we received nice feedback from participants,” she says. “Many people said they interacted with people they wouldn’t normally work with and enjoyed the experience.”

In 2020 Bandla began participating in virtual events and conferences held by Region 10’s Young Professionals group as a speaker and panel moderator. Last year she became the chair.

Guiding young professionals

Volunteering for the YP group is special to her, she says, because she has been able to “build a community and help other young professionals become well-rounded leaders and decision-makers.”

She helped develop the Career and Leadership Aid Program (CLAP) at the Region 10 Students, Young Professionals,Women in Engineering,Life Members Congress held in August in Tokyo.

She introduced the concept of ikigai to young professionals by centering the event around it. The congress included what she calls a “human library” session. Ten IEEE members from different engineering fields were positioned around the meeting room, and attendees had an hour to learn about each of the “human books.”

The group received positive feedback, with participants saying they enjoyed the focus on professional and leadership development. They said they liked how extraordinary the event was, in particular the “human library” session.

Based on the success of the CLAP event, the team is building an IEEE Hive. The immersive professional development program is available for students and early career professionals at technical conferences and congresses around the world.

The ability to make an impact, build a community, and connect with people resonates with her, Bandla says.

“Volunteering with IEEE gives me so much energy!” she says.