The National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA) has announced the winners of the 2011 BMEidea Competition. Awards have gone to three college groups for the invention of much needed biomedical devices and applications that will aid patients in the future: an internal bleed detector, a new therapy for dry eye disease, and a superior broad spectrum antibacterial dressing for infected wounds.
The BMEidea winners, it must be noted, are already in various stages of testing or production. Therefore, the information and images I can provide are limited. But here is plenty of information to get excited about…
First Place 2011 BMEidea Competition: Magneto: Magnetic Induction Internal Bleed Detector
from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Magneto, Magnetic Induction Internal Bleed Detector, BMEidea 2011: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
The signs of internal bleeding after heart surgery or catheterization are generally inferred by physicians based on the presence of tachycardia, hypotension, swelling, bruising, pain or discomfort. This is an indirect and ‘fuzzy’ way of estimating whether internal bleeding is going on or not, and to what extent.
But the Magneto directly detects the accumulation of blood near the access site – the femoral artery – without using invasive technology. Magneto consists of a coil pack that is attached to the patient by adhesion near the site of entry, and a user pack that interprets the data and alerts the physician or other medical professional if there are bleeding complications.
Second Place 2011 BMEidea Competition: Oculeve, Dry Eye Device
from Stanford University
Many medical conditions and medications can cause extreme dryness in the eye, seriously affecting vision in patients enough that they can’t read, or watch TV, or even go out into the sunlight because the brightness affects them. Currently, patients with moderate dry eye may use artificial tears or the drug Restasis. Some may endure surgery that literally shuts their eyes.
Patients with dry eye will be relieved to know that the Oculeve is a device-based therapy that is inserted in an in-office procedure that is minimally invasive and does not shut your eye(s). The therapy will return tear production to near-normal levels and allow patients to return to their normal lives.
Third Place Winner 2011 BMEidea Competition: OSMOSE Antimicrobial Patch
from Purdue University
OSMOSE antimicrobial dressings, BMEidea 2011: Medtric Biotech, Purdue University
Did you know that the cost of the average infected wound is nearly $14,000 per case? In chronic wounds, almost always contaminated, the cost could be up to $40,000 per wound.
Antibiotic drugs are, more and more, facing bacteria they can’t treat, which could be because no new classes of antibiotics have been developed since 1963. Additionally, other wound compounds, such as antimicrobial silver, may be toxic, in addition to posing serious long-term environmental problems.
OSMOSE, by the Medtric Biotech team, will be a line of nanotechnology-developed antimicrobial dressings for the prevention of and treatment of infection, employing a proprietary antibacterial that is effective even against antibiotic-resistant strains.
For further information, visit NCIIA
