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The BMEidea Competition, now in its third year, is open to collegiateteams from NCIIA member institutions across the United States. "These studentteams display an impressive level of creativity, drive and professionalism,"said Phil Weilerstein, Executive Director of the NCIIA. "Their innovationsshow promise to change the future of healthcare, and we are thrilled tosupport them as they move forward."
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The first prize -- a cash award of $10,000 -- was awarded to Rapid Suturefrom Stanford University. This team created a small, inexpensive device thatallows for the quick, safe and easy closure of laparoscopic incision woundsafter surgery. The device should make for easier suturing, leading to reducedprocedure times, fewer surgical risks and faster patient recovery.
The second cash prize of $2,500 was given to the KMC ApneAlert team fromNorthwestern University. This team's device monitors the abdominal breathingmovements of premature infants and sounds an alarm when the infant stopsbreathing. The apnea monitor should allow for better detection of apneaepisodes, improving the success of the Kangaroo Mother Care program andreducing apnea-related deaths among premature infants in the developing world.
The third prize, $1,000 in cash, was given to the REGEN team from JohnsHopkins University. REGEN is a small implantable receptacle that diffusespain-relieving analgesic at a controlled and sustained rate directly at thesite of a laparoscopic incision. This new approach to post-laparoscopicsurgery pain management should facilitate faster wound recovery; improvesafety; and decrease costs while minimizing side effects.
Teams from Georgia Institute of Technology, Stanford University School ofMedicine and University of Virginia all received honorable mentions for theirentries.
The BMEidea Competition is sponsored by the NCIIA; Canon CommunicationsLLC; the Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA); the National ScienceFoundation; and Guidant; and is endorsed by the Biomedical Engineering Society(BMES), the Council of Chairs of Bioengineering and Biomedical EngineeringPrograms.
About BMEidea
The Biomedical Engineering Innovation, Design and Entrepreneurship Award(BMEidea) is the brainchild of the BME Innovation, Design and EntrepreneurshipAlliance, a consortium of BME faculty from NCIIA member institutions with aninterest in stimulating innovative design and entrepreneurial approaches inthe biomedical field. First held in 2005, this annual competition was createdto help motivate student biomedical innovation teams to move their projectsforward. Winning teams are selected from a pool of entries submitted by someof the nation's top biomedical engineering departments and are judged by apanel of faculty and industry representatives. Judges evaluate the teams on avariety of criteria-winners are required to solve a pressing clinical problem;meet technical, economic, legal and regulatory requirements; feature a noveland practical design; and show potential for commercialization.
About the NCIIA
The National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance, an initiativeof the Lemelson Foundation, provides support through grants, training andother resources to higher education institutions across the country toencourage invention, innovation and entrepreneurship. For more information,please visit http://www
