Despite the heartbreaking loss of their one-week-old son, Lindsay and Tom Grady have turned their tragedy into triumph by focusing on helping doctors develop a device to save other children, all while honoring their son, Eli.
Eli Robert Grady was born May 8, 2015, perfectly healthy. However, soon after arriving at home, he developed a slight fever and didn’t want to nurse. The Gradys rushed Eli to Children’s Nebraska where doctors determined he had a rare form of bacterial meningitis. After a courageous battle, Eli passed away on May 14, 2015.
While Eli was in Children’s Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), doctors asked if he could be part of a research study for a device to measure blood circulation in the brain – and the Gradys agreed.
The study is an effort led by Gregory Bashford, Ph.D., P.E., University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor of biomedical engineering.
Dr. Bashford is developing a device that will wirelessly transmit cerebral blood flow signals from a commercial transcranial Doppler machine to a portable tablet such as an iPad. The two have already invested eight years researching this technology, which will allow real-time blood flow signals from deep within a child’s brain to be visible to a clinician in a different room.
The device could be used to monitor any conditions that affect circulation of blood to the brain including meningitis, stroke, transient ischemic attacks, subarachnoid hemorrhage and vascular dementia. Continuous monitoring of blood flow in the brain will permit instant, real-time feedback and alert clinicians when something is wrong as procedures are being done.
Because Eli was a part of the device research while he was in Children’s PICU, Lindsay and Tom felt their calling was to devote all energy to furthering the device research and bettering the lives of other families as a tribute to Eli.
Together with family and friends, Lindsay and Tom continue to support development of the technology. Dr. Bashford, grateful for the Grady family’s gift, surprised them by naming the device the Electronic Link Interface (ELI) in memory of Eli.