Healthcare Innovation pitch program
Team members of AERO pictured with the top prize of $7,500 for their pressure injury innovation.
The Healthcare Innovation Pitch Program hosted by East Carolina University (ECU) was the lasted event sponsored by the Patient Safety Technology Challenge funded by the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative (PRHI). The Healthcare Innovation Pitch Program ended on Thursday, June 22.
The Office of Licensing & Commercialization partnered with the Patient Safety Technology Challenge and held a business pitch program and competition for ECU clinicians, faculty, students, and staff that sought to improve healthcare as it relates to patient safety. Following the National Science Foundation I-Corps model, teams participated in four virtual training sessions covered topics including customer discovery, problem/solution alignment, business development, and funding. Additionally, a workshop on patient safety and technology was offered by PRHI to provide teams an extra dose of patient safety-related information as they developed their ideas. Each virtual training session featured a keynote speaker related to the session’s topic and patient safety.
Team AERO, which included team members Brittany Trotter, Stephanie George, PhD, and Jason Yao, PhD, won the $7,500 first prize for their development of a device to detect the risk of pressure injury in patients.
“Starting a few years ago, we, a group of engineering faculty and nursing practitioners, were trying to devise a technology that can objectively measure edema (including lymphedema) so that appropriate care and treatment can be provided to those needed,” said Dr. Yao, an ECU faculty member. “This was how AERO (Air Edema RepOrting) was invented. The idea was to have a standardized amount of compressed air applied to a patient’s skin in a controlled and consistent manner, then use a high-speech camera to capture how skin and tissue respond (indent then rebound). The images from this dynamic response are processed to find mechanical properties of skin and underlying tissue to identify early signs of skin/tissue deterioration then prevent possible pressure injuries.”
“My passion is applying engineering frameworks to solve biomedical problems that will improve patient care. I am particularly motivated by the needs in my local community which was the impetus for our initial conceptualization of AERO,” said AERO team member Dr. George, another ECU faculty member.
Preventing pressure injuries hits close to home for graduate student Brittany Trotter due to a loved one’s experience. Trotter expprototype andld like to continue my work with the AERO team and assist in pursuing funding to bolster research and design, building a prototype and assisting with pilot studies. I am in a different department and had the privilege of joining this team when I began work as an Innovation Ambassador with our Licensing and Commercialization office.”
The National Science Foundation I-Corps model that preceded the competition provided students and faculty with great insight into the pains that patients and clinicians face regarding patient safety.
“Each team that participated exhibited a great passion for problem solving and the combination of faculty and student teams generated mature innovations that will ultimately lead to new patents, products, and services being added to the marketplace,” said Carlyle Rogers, Director of Licensing and Commercialization at ECU.
The 2nd place was Team SpeakNOW, with members Patrick Briley, PhD and Ashley Jata, developed a virtual reality platform to reduce patient stress in clinical settings and received a $1,500 prize.
There was a tie for 3rd place, Team BioFilm for the discovery of a molecule to treat biofilm formation in cystic fibrosis and Team MedEASE for the development of a device to improve medication dispensing. Each was awarded $1,000.
The Patient Safety Technology Challenge is thrilled to support Elythea as well as OnPoint Ventilation and are excited to see what they do next.