FDA Awards Sochol-Led Team $873K to Build Retina Models

University of Maryland (UMD) Mechanical Engineering Associate Professor Ryan Sochol has been awarded an $873K contract from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to lead a project combining 3D nanoprinting and artificial intelligence (AI) to create new models of the retina for evaluating ophthalmic imaging technologies.

The team includes UMD Mechanical Engineering Assistant Research Professor Molly Carton, Colorado State University (CSU) Mechanical Engineering Assistant Professor Frank VanGessel, and University of Maryland School of Medicine Professor Osamah Saeedi.

Conceptual rendering of a machine learning-designed, 3D-nanoprinted retinal vascular “phantom” for evaluating ophthalmic imaging technologies.

The project, titled “Machine Learning-Guided 3D Nanoprinting of a Retinal Vascular Phantom Library,” builds on advances made by Sochol, Carton, and VanGessel through the Data Driven Engineering Research (DataDrivER) program spearheaded by Don Woodbury. VanGessel contributed to the project’s development as a Mechanical Engineering Assistant Research Professor at UMD before joining CSU.

Putting Eye Imaging to the Test With “Phantoms”

Ophthalmic imaging systems allow clinicians to look inside the eye, revealing the retina and its microscopic blood vessels to help detect and monitor disease. But when a new imaging system is developed, how can doctors be confident that what appears on the screen accurately reflects what is actually happening in the eye?

That is where “phantoms” come in. These physical test models recreate selected features of the eye with known structures and controlled conditions. Just like using a 20-pound weight to check whether a scale measures 20 pounds correctly, phantoms can be used to evaluate how accurately an ophthalmic technology can image retinal features, blood vessels, and fluid movement.

The challenge: building phantoms that reproduce the retina’s 3D structures, including their tiny, intricate blood vessel networks and the movement of blood cells through them.

Eyeing a Breakthrough With 3D Nanoprinting and AI

Recently Sochol’s Bioinspired Advanced Manufacturing (BAM) Laboratory has leveraged its state-of-the-art 3D nanoprinter to create 3D microscopic vessel structures, leading to a number of international accolades including Microsystems & Nanoengineering/Springer Nature Outstanding Paper and Oral Presentation Awards at the 2026 Solid-State Sensors, Actuators, and Microsystems Workshop and the 29th International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences–Micro-Total Analysis Systems (µTAS 2025), respectively, as well as an Outstanding Student Oral Presentation Award at the 38th Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (IEEE MEMS 2025).

The FDA project will extend this retinal modeling research by integrating AI and computational modeling into the design process. Using retinal imaging data and simulations, the team will generate vascular designs that account for both physiological anatomy and the practical considerations of 3D nanoprinting.

Eye on the Prize: From Phantoms to Patient Care

Rounding out the interdisciplinary team is Saeedi, who directs Clinical Research and the Glaucoma Division in the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. He will provide clinical guidance and support experimental evaluation of the phantoms with ophthalmic imaging technologies.

“Doctors rely on these images to make decisions that can affect a patient’s vision,” Sochol said. “By combining advanced manufacturing, machine learning, and clinical ophthalmology, we aim to provide the FDA and the broader ophthalmic imaging community with realistic, reproducible models that can ultimately support the development of highly reliable tools for diagnosing and monitoring eye disease.”

Sochol, who was recently named director of UMD’s Maryland Robotics Center, will serve as principal investigator for the project. He holds joint appointments in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Institute for Systems Research (ISR), as well as an affiliate appointment in the Fischell Department of Bioengineering, and is a Fischell Institute Fellow within the Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices.

Published October 6, 2026