2019 Bench to Bedside Awards
Grand Prize $25,000: The Mapping Otoscope by Heimdall Health
Pediatricians and primary care physicians do not have a quantifiable and repeatable way of identifying the fluid behind the tympanic membrane. This leads to misdiagnosis and unnecessary medical procedures. Heimdall Health offers an electronic device with a touchscreen user interface. The device is capable of measuring and displaying how its pre- described pressure stimulus deflects the tympanic membrane in 3D. #921
Runner Up Award $10,000: Flourix
Cervical dilation is necessary to access the uterus for a variety of medical procedures. Gynecological procedures like hysteroscopies, polypectomies, endometrial biopsies, and dilation and curettage procedures are all performed through cervical access when adequate dilation is feasible. However, current methods are painful and limited in the diameter of dilation obtained. Cases in which sufficient dilation is not achieved, due to the pain or diameter limitations of current methods, result in the necessity to move the patient's procedure to an operating room and the use of anesthesia. Our product is a cervical dilator that slowly and gently dilates the cervix to decrease pain and trauma during procedures such as hysteroscopies, polypectomies and endometrial biopsies. The device stays in place during the entire procedure to ensure proper access is maintained. It will better serve gynecological patients to have a device that decreases the need for operating room procedures, decreases tearing of the cervix and the associated pain, and increases ease and efficiency of the procedures.
Legacy Grand Prize Award $20,000: XLynk Surgical
Following pelvic and abdominal procedures, two opposing tissue surfaces can become connected by thick fibrous bands of tissue, called adhesions. These adhesions develop in up to 95% of patients following surgery, causing bowel obstructions, infertility, and chronic pain. There are no effective solutions on the market for laparoscopic surgery, and only partially effective solutions in laparotomies. XLynk Gel is a hydrogel adhesion barrier, which is sprayed from a propellant device that stores the two liquid components of the hydrogel in separate compartments. The delivery device will combine the two components, chemically modified hyaluronic acid and polyethylene glycol, via turbulent flow conditions. The newly formed gel will be sprayed onto the tissue surface, allowing effective in situ cross-linking.
Fred Lampropoulos Innovation Award $20,000: PreOv
Fertility issues can be stressful, exhausting and expensive for patients. 12-13% of US couples are struggling to conceive, which occupies a significant amount of time and energy and can result in strained relationships. We suggest creating a lower-cost device that will identify the pre-ovulatory phase of the menstrual cycle, providing couples with time to plan for their optimal fertile days.
John Noorda Consumer's Choice Award $5,000: Kidney Tracker
Dialysis patients are commonly disengaged from their hemodialysis treatments, but patient engagement is essential to achieve optimal fluid balance and avoid excessive fluid intake. Kidney Tracker is a smartphone app for dialysis patient engagement. It tracks dialysis treatments, monitors fluid intake and patient activity, incentivizes patients to stay engaged, and connects patients to their care providers.
Best in Medicine $5,000: Myoplexer
Adults with below-elbow amputations need the ability to consistently use their existing anatomy to restore hand dexterity. Myoplexer helps by measuring the muscle geometry of each motor unit in the forearm to determine the intended hand gesture of the user.
Best in Engineering $5,000: Smartbeat
Smartbeat is a non-contact video baby monitor with breathing detection that alerts the caretakers when breathing rates become dangerous. The device uses advanced computer vision technology to accurately detect breathing rate, even if the baby is swaddled.
Best in Business $5,000: VitaPul
Expiring medications and vaccines cost hospitals, payers, and patients unnecessary expense annually. In addition, expiring medications and vaccines limit access to health care for people living in isolated areas. Vitapul injectables aims to increase the shelf life of lifesaving medications and vaccines through an innovative powder/liquid mix, allowing greater accessibility and ultimately lowering lifetime costs.
Best in Healthcare IT $5,000: Healthlink Cooperative
Improving access to quality healthcare for individuals living in "end of the road" communities around the world. The goal of our organization is to use technology to bridge gaps and improve access to quality healthcare. To actualize this goal we have developed an integrative health platform that connects clinicians in a healthcare center to both patients and community health workers in the field.
Young Entrepreneur Award $1,000: Med Up!
Non-adherence to medication leads to increased medical costs and worsened clinical outcomes. Few commercial products are widely adopted, and almost all of them neglect pediatric patients. Med Up! is a mobile app combining standard notification features with a novel reward and gamification strategy to promote adherence and foster improved self- management capacity for families with children with chronic conditions.
Global Health Award $5,000: Vita Sensors
The Vita Sensor is a contact-free respiratory monitoring system that allows parents to monitor their children's respiratory rate while they are sleeping, without the child wearing or being attached to a monitor. The device provides parents with real-time monitoring that can send an alert if irregular respiratory patterns are detected. The technology also has a market with in-patient psychiatric hospitals and opioid-prescribed patient monitoring.
Ted Stanley Innovation Award $5,000: Totally Tubular
Approximately 250,000 of the 1 million+ chest tube procedures performed annually experience clogging, which results in complications. Functioning non-clogging chest tubes are critical in obtaining better patient outcomes and saving money. Totally Tubular, an improved drainage catheter, optimizes chest drainage and prevents clogging. The new device is low cost, requires minimal training, and is fully compatible with existing apparatus.
Ensign College of Public Health Award $15,000: Surgery Checklist
Preventable surgical errors are expensive and result in the loss of priceless lives. Paper checklists reduce complications but are difficult to use in practice. Surgery Checklist is an inexpensive, easy-to-use electronic solution to this problem. It improves on the WHO's surgical safety checklist by automatically tracking data, pulling information and warnings from the EHR, and adapting to specific surgeries.
Eccles and Marriott Libraries Award $2,000: Advanced Video Laryngoscope
Conventional video laryngoscopes do not provide support beyond the ability to see through the camera. Even for experienced clinicians, difficult intubations are common. Our technology augments the video laryngoscope for the intubation task. It provides important contextual information, detects process steps, and takes action (calls for help after a set number of unsuccessful intubation attempts, documents, etc.).