NCIIA Honors Student Innovators with 2013 BMEidea AwardsNCIIA Honors Student Innovators with 2013 BMEidea Awards

The BMEidea Awards, presented at MD&M East, honor student-driven medical device innovations.

June 20, 2013

3 Min Read
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The National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA) presented its annual Biomedical Engineering Innovations, Design, and Entrepreneurship Awards (BMEidea) to student innovators from Johns Hopkins University and Stanford University. The awards were presented June 19, at the 15th annual Medical Design Excellence Awards (MDEA) Ceremony at the MD&M East trade show and convention in Philadelphia.

With support from The Lemelson Foundation, the BMEidea competition recognizes student-driven, innovative biomedical engineering design with high commercial potential and social impact. Winning entries must solve a clinical problem; meet technical, economic, legal and regulatory requirements; feature novel and practical designs; and show strong potential for commercialization.

 

“The products and solutions that these emerging biomedical university innovators have produced demonstrate the creativity, innovation and passion of young scientists and engineers and the impact that their work will have in improving healthcare,” says Phil Weilerstein, executive director of NCIIA.

 

 

Third-Place Winner: The Gala Pump by DS Labs Inc.

 

Johns Hopkins University students Adriana Blazeski and Susan Thompson of DS Labs Inc. received the third-place prize for the Gala Pump, a, hands-free, concealable, and quiet breast pump that allows mothers to discreetly pump in the presence of others. The Gala Pump fits comfortably and securely into an undergarment, allowing women to discretely collect milk anywhere and at any time.

 

”Participating in BMEidea has been such an exciting honor,” Thompson says in a press statement. “The winnings will go straight toward facilitating the Institutional Review Board process, liability insurance and further refining the prototype, so the Gala Pump can help moms worldwide.”

 

 

Second-Place Winner: The Wyshbone by AWAIR

 

The Stanford University Biodesign team of Dr. Rush Bartlett and Dr. Ryan Van Wert, known as AWAIR, received second place for the Wyshbone drug delivery catheter, which connects seamlessly to standard infusion and syringe pumps to continuously apply topical anesthetic to the throat. Wyshbone delivers lidocaine to a targeted area of the upper airway to reduce endotracheal tube discomfort and the IV sedation currently used to treat it. This approach and flow restriction built into the design allows for a low risk of toxic effects while also enabling the patient to be awake and aware during the process.

 

 

First-Place Winner: EchoSure

 

The Echosure system is an implant and software package that allows surgeons to early detect blood flow complications such as blood clots. Created by a team of graduate students from Johns Hopkins University, including Devin Coon, Adam Lightman, and David Narrow, the EchoSure system is comprised of the EchoMark, a bio-absorbable echogenic implant, and EchoFind, an ultrasound software package that locks onto the unique EchoMark signature and analyzes blood flow in order to detect post-operative complications in vascular and solid organ transplant surgeries, enabling routine monitoring of vascular health at the bedside. ”Our team has seen firsthand the consequences for patients when vascular complications are not detected early enough to salvage a surgery,” said Lightman. “EchoSure has the potential to prevent thousands of surgical failures and otherwise unnecessary reoperations.”

 

 -Chris Wiltz, Associate Editor, MD+DI

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