Medtech Innovations Originating in…Utah?

The medical device industry has prominent regional hubs where the sector recognizes an area as a “hot spot” for development and manufacturing. Massachusetts, southern California, and Minnesota are arguably three of the most notable in the United States, but there are significant medtech industry pockets in northern California, New Jersey, and Texas as well (shameless plug—just one reason this year’s MPO Summit will be in Austin, Texas). To get a perspective of those ”hot spots” around the world, check out MPO’s managing editor Michael Barbella’s report, with Ireland, Switzerland, and Singapore featured, as well as a look at the BRIC nations.

Regardless of the person you speak to, odds are one region that likely won’t be included in their list is Utah. My colleagues may actually be exceptions to this as the state hosted the last two MPO Summit events—Salt Lake City in 2013 and Park City in 2015—so they are acutely aware of the growth occurring there relevant to the medtech sector. Further, I’ve heard nothing but fantastic things from attendees who made the trip to those events and how the region is developing a good medical device manufacturing base.

With this in mind, at the start of April, I headed to Utah to check out a medical device innovation event that was being hosted in the state capital building in Salt Lake City. Called Bench to Bedside, the event comes out of the University of Utah’s Center for Medical Innovation. This event was actually the culmination of efforts that had started approximately six months earlier when student teams were provided $500 to develop their specific medical device concepts that address a clinical need. Additionally, the student teams were granted access to the more than 100 physicians at the university who serve as mentors.

During the evening of April 4, the teams presented to the judges and guests the progress of their respective projects, which was highlighted in poster presentations and by physical prototypes. The clinical applications addressed ranged across healthcare, from orthopedics to surgery to pediatrics, and addressed a number of leading healthcare issues such as preventing healthcare-acquired infections, enhancing medicine in remote regions, and improving patient adherence. The teams demonstrated a clear understanding of how medical technology can resolve many of today’s challenges.

This was the program’s sixth year in existence and 27 companies have since spawned from it. Even more impressive, during the awards presentation, it was announced that one of the student teams had signed a licensing agreement with a medical device manufacturer to develop their idea into a healthcare product that would be in the market as soon as possible—a remarkable achievement for a student team provided just $500 to get started.

By the end of the evening, 12 of the 42 teams (33 new and nine legacy) had won cash prizes totaling over $75,000 for their projects. The grand prize of $15,000 went to the team PlusOne Baby, developers of a system that passively detects and measures a baby’s breathing without the need for wires or physical attachments. The two runners up were FinBlade—a minimally invasive, carpal tunnel release technology—and Through the Cords—an endotracheal tube that simplifies the process of performing an endotracheal intubation—with each team taking home $10,000. Every team offered an impressive exhibit and each made a strong case for being considered as addressing an important clinical need. The event was a tremendous success and I hope to share some of the teams’ stories with readers via their own words on the MPO website in the coming weeks and months.

Click here to check out a photo slideshow of the event and several of the winners.

Innovation contests such as this are a fantastic model for developing new medical device technologies that could end up being the basis for a startup company that joins our community. While relatively new, the competitions are springing up all over and, when tied to a university program like the Bench to Bedside event, there’s a added level of legitimacy that is built into it. Unfortunately, there are several innovation contests I’ve heard of that end up being nothing more than a money grab for the organizers or a blatant scam. This event was a model for how it should be conducted.

The next step I’d like to see is more support from the medtech community. The Bench to Bedside event had mentor support from companies such as BD, Merit Medical, Stryker Corp., and more, but I’d like to see a financial investment made. On the flip side, it could be worked out that the supporting firms have first access to negotiating licensing deals with the teams or perhaps buying the idea outright if the details could be agreed upon. With innovation in the medical device space being the goal of all involved, a model that partners with medtech firms has the chance of not only being successful, but truly contributing valuable ideas to improving healthcare.