South by southwest Innovation Awards
The Kalogon team (left to right) Evan Rosenberg, Timothy Balz, and Kenny Menendez pose with PRHI patient safety consultant Ariana Longley, MPH.
Kalogon, the world’s first smart wheelchair cushion company, won the inaugural Patient Safety Technology Innovation Award at this year’s South by Southwest (SXSW) Innovation Awards. The 2023 SXSW Innovation Awards were presented by the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative; the sponsorship enabled the establishment of the Patient Safety Technology category which sat alongside 10 other categories. This event increased the visibility of the issue of medical harm for the nearly 1,000 people in attendance.
The awards ceremony took place Monday, March 13th in Austin, Texas. Each of the 11 innovation categories were narrowed down to three to five finalists who were judged on creativity, design, and function by a panel of industry peers and experts. The Patient Safety Technology finalists were narrowed down by a group of judges, including Drew Ladner, chairman and CEO of Pascal Metrics, who is a leading innovator in the patient safety sector.
The finalists for the patient safety technology category included DiaMonTech D-Pocket, Jurata Thin Film, WideAwakeVR, as well as the winner Kalogon.
DiaMonTech D-Pocket is a noninvasive medical device company that measures blood glucose using a sensor, rather than finger pricking, a drop of blood, or a test strip. Jurata Thin Film is a startup focused on stabilizing vaccines at ambient temperature by immobilizing the biological pharmaceuticals into a solid film matrix. Wide Awake VR (WAVR) utilizes customized, original, virtual reality content with wide-awake patients during surgery to eliminate the danger and expense of traditional anesthesia. The breadth of companies solving a diverse array of health issues is inspiring.
The Kalogon founding team is a group of former SpaceX Engineers who are passionate about creating innovative technologies for people with disabilities, starting with a product to reduce pressure injuries.
Pressure injuries are a serious patient safety concern and the leading cause of preventable death in wheelchair users. Approximately 60,000 Americans die annually from pressure injuries and complications. These injuries develop through prolonged and unmitigated pressure applied to the skin when lying down or remaining seated. Individuals with impaired mobility, sensation as well as circulation are particularly vulnerable to pressure injuries.
Kalogon’s product, the Orbiter Smart Cushion, redistributes pressure points and improves blood flow to prevent the risk of pressure injuries. The smart cushion works to reduce preventable harm by first using pressure sensors to detect applied pressure on the seat, and then a control system takes the information and adjusts the seat’s pressure as necessary. The cushion comes with a Bluetooth-enabled app that users and their care team can utilize to personalize the product.
“Ninety-one percent of pressure injuries are considered preventable, yet they kill more people each year than colon, breast, or prostate cancer. Many wheelchair users are using subpar products that only somewhat address their medical needs, and often neglect things like caretakers and personal wants and needs. I founded Kalogon to prevent these painful injuries and redefine the standard of care for wheelchair users. With our Orbiter Smart Cushion, we are redefining the standard of care for wheelchair technology to help prevent injury and give wheelchair users the freedom to do what they love,” said Tim Balz, founder and CEO of Kalogon.
The Patient Safety Technology Challenge is delighted to support a company bringing technology-enabled solutions to market for a leading cause of harm.