And the Winners Are…

Originally Published MDDI June 2003

COVER STORY

Medical Design Excellence Awards 2003

by Stacey L. Bell

This year's crop of 23 Medical Design Excellence Award (MDEA) winners have outdone themselves in the fields of technical innovation, advanced manufacturing processes, and contemporary, ergonomic design. On the following pages, each of the gold-award-winning products is profiled with detailed descriptions of the technology used, stories from the people involved in the design process, and photographs of the finished devices. Also included is information about this year's award-panel jurors, and the coverage concludes with a list of all silver-award-winning products.

Industry sponsors of the 2003 MDEA competition include Avail (Fort Worth, TX), Battelle (Columbus, OH), DuPont Medical Packaging (Wilmington, DE), and The MedTech Group Inc. (South Plainfield, NJ). The MDEA program is endorsed by the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

Presenting the 2003 MDEA Jurors

Essential to the success of the Medical Design Excellence Awards program is the selection of a panel of distinguished, impartial jurors. This year, the multidisciplinary panel was a mix of returning and new jurors representing the fields of engineering, medicine, human factors, industrial design, and manufacturing. The panel for this year's competition consisted of Krista A. Coleman, MDEA jury chair. Coleman is chief technology officer and vice president of R&D at Enhanced Mobility Technologies (Minnetonka, MN) and an adjunct faculty member at the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis).

Dan Haumschild, clinicals group manager at Beckman Coulter Inc. (Chaska, MN).

William A. Hyman, professor and interim head of the department of biomedical engineering at Texas A&M University (College Station, TX).

Craig M. Jackson, a returning juror, president and principal scientist at HemoSaga Diagnostics Corp. (San Diego). 

Hans Kramer, another returning panel member, manager of R&D at Innercool Therapies (San Diego), and adjunct professor of mechanical engineering at San Diego State University.

Eliot Lazar, a veteran juror, principal of elCON Medical (Buffalo, NY) and an ophthalmologist specializing in anterior segment pathology and surgery. 

Michael E. Wiklund, vice president in charge of the Usability Engineering Group at the American Institutes for Research (Concord, MA).

Stephen B. Wilcox, principal and founder of Design Science Consulting Inc. (Philadelphia).

2003 Award Winners

The following list includes all gold- and silver-award winners, as well as the supply and design credits named by the submitting firm. Products are listed alphabetically within each category.

Critical Care and Emergency Products

Rugged Stair-Pro 

Angel single-patient-use telemetry system, 
Gold
Submitted and manufactured by Medical Data Electronics Inc. 
(Arleta, CA). 


HeartStart home defibrillator, 
Silver
Submitted and manufactured by Philips Medical Systems—Heartstream (Seattle, WA).



Rugged Stair-Pro lightweight emergency transportation device, 
Silver
Submitted and manufactured by Stryker EMS (Kalamazoo, MI), with supply and design credit to Scori Mold and Engineering Inc. (Centerville, MI), and Alexandria Extrusions (Alexandria, MN). 

Finished Packaging

Easytab hearing aid battery delivery system, 
Silver
Submitted by Product Ventures Ltd. (Fairfield, CT); manufactured by 
Duracell (Bethel, CT), with supply and design credit to Product Ventures Ltd. (Fairfield, CT). 

General Hospital Devices and Therapeutic Products

Introcan Safety intravenous catheter, 
Silver
Submitted and manufactured by B. Braun OEM/Industrial Div., B. Braun Medical Inc. (Bethlehem, PA). 








SmartSite Plus needle-free valve with positive displacement, 
Gold
Submitted and manufactured by Alaris Medical Systems Inc. (San Diego, CA), with supply and design credit to Karl Leinsing (Hampton, NH).



Joey disposable umbilical cord clamp and cutter,
Gold
Submitted and manufactured by Maternus (San Antonio, TX), with supply and design credit to Design Edge (Austin, TX), and Trend 
Technologies LLC (Longmont, CO).

Implant and Tissue-Replacement Products


Ascension metacarpalphalangeal joint implant, 
Gold
Submitted and manufactured by Ascension Orthopedics Inc. (Austin, TX), with supply and design
credit to Medical Carbon Research Institute (Austin, TX), Banister Tool Co. (Austin, TX), and Symmetry Medical (Warsaw, IN).

ContourMed Advantage external breast prosthesis, 
Silver
Submitted and manufactured by ContourMed Inc. (Little Rock, AR), with supply and design credit to Webtec Converting LLC (Knoxville, TN), BJB Enterprises Inc. (Tustin, CA), 3M Medical Specialties (St. Paul, MN), and General Electric Silicones (Atlanta, GA).

In Vitro Diagnostics

Accu-Chek Inform blood glucose meter, 
Silver
Submitted by Kinneir Dufort (Bristol, UK); manufactured by Roche Diagnostics (Indianapolis, IN), with 
supply and design credit to Kinneir Dufort.






OraQuick Rapid HIV-1 antibody test, 
Gold
Submitted and manufactured by 
OraSure Technologies Inc. 
(Bethlehem, PA), with supply and 
design credit to Millipore Corp. 
(Bedford, MA), Inland Technologies Inc. (Fontana, CA), and Innovations (Oakdale, CA).

Over-the-Counter and Self-Care Products


PiKo-1 handheld lung-function monitor, 
Gold
Submitted and manufactured by 
Pulmonary Data Services Inc. (Louisville, CO). 







Symphony breast pump, 
Gold
Submitted and manufactured by 
Medela Inc. (McHenry, IL), with supply and design credit to Milani Design & Consulting SA (Erlenbach, Switzerland).

Radiological and Electromechanical Devices

MammoSite radiation therapy system, 
Gold
Submitted and manufactured by Proxima Therapeutics Inc. (Alpharetta, GA), with supply and design credit to ETI Inc. (Largo, FL), Proximal Inc. (Largo, FL), and Medron (Salt Lake City, UT). 


iLook personal imaging tool, 
Silver
Submitted and manufactured by 
SonoSite Inc. (Bothell, WA). 



Sonos 7500 Live 3-D ultrasound system, 
Silver
Submitted and manufactured by Philips Medical Systems (Andover, MA).

Rehabilitation and Assistive-Technology Products

UroCycler bladder management system, 
Gold
Submitted and manufactured by UroSolutions Inc. (Orlando, FL), with supply and design credit to Bradshaw Manufacturing Services Inc. (Palm Bay, FL), and International Sterilization Laboratory Inc. (Groveland, FL).



Cozmo insulin pump and My Treatment Assistant PC communications, 
Silver
Submitted and manufactured by 
Deltec Inc. (St. Paul, MN), with 
supply and design credit to Bridge Design (San Francisco, CA), and 
Advanced Molding Technologies 
(St. Paul, MN).




Taylor Spatial Frame and spatialframe.com orthopedic fixator system, 
Silver
Submitted and manufactured by Smith & Nephew Inc., Orthopaedic Div. (Memphis, TN), with supply and design credit to NetIDEAS Inc. (Mt. Laurel, NJ).

Surgical Equipment, Instruments, and Supplies


A-2000 bispectral index (BIS) consciousness monitor, 
Silver
Submitted by Design Continuum (West Newton, MA); manufactured by Aspect Medical Systems (Newton, MA), with supply and design credit to Design Continuum, Tech Design (Merrimack, NH), and William Wholtmann (San Jose, CA).
 

Zeus robotic endoscopic surgical workstation, Gold
Submitted by Patton Design (Irvine, CA); manufactured by Computer Motion (Goleta, CA), with supply and design credit to Patton Design. 


 

Intralase FS ophthalmological laser, 
Gold
Submitted by Patton Design (Irvine, CA); manufactured by Intralase (Irvine, CA), with supply and design credit to Patton Design.







CORx integrated oxygenation system, 
Gold
Submitted and manufactured by CardioVention (Santa Clara, CA), with supply and design credit to Data Spectrum (Redondo Beach, CA), Lunar Design (Palo Alto, CA), damgudesign (Los Angeles, CA), Solid Concepts (Valencia, CA), Emoteq (Tulsa, OK), Volker Precision Products (Sunnyvale, CA), Polymer Technology Corp. (Menomonie, WI), Pacific Plastics & Engineering (Soquel, CA), Plastics Engineering & Development Inc. (Carlsbad, CA), Delta Pacific (Santa Clara, CA), and Membrana GmbH (Wuppertal, Germany).

Copyright ©2003 Medical Device & Diagnostic Industry