The Henry Ford Health System Innovation Institute is a new think tank for creating medical products opening in Detroit. It stands as part of a biomedical and biotechnology research corridor in the city's Midtown and New Center areas. The institute is in a renovated 1924 building on the Henry Ford campus.

Researchers at Henry Ford and Wayne State University will bring together engineering, design, and medical students from several schools, including Lawrence Technological University in Southfield and the University of Windsor. For example, Detroit's College for Creative Studies brought 15 design students to two Henry Ford hospitals to look for new ideas.

 The Innovation Institute will receive $12 million in funding over the next 2 years, reports the Detroit Free Press.

Already, more than a dozen potential medical developments are on the drawing board. Those include a bra with ultrasound that can detect breast cancer and a miniature wireless pump to help a failing heart. Some are being developed into prototypes, including a wearable, touch-activated communications system for hospital workers. The 2010 pilot project involving the College for Creative Studies got the institute started.

—Heather Thompson