Medical Design Briefs - November 2021 - 12

HONORABLE MENTIONS
" Our technology, creating a unibody
(single-piece) prosthetic device, is significantly
better than that of our competitors
who use off-the-shelf components
for many parts of their devices, " says the
team. " With a digital workflow, where
alignment can be done in CAD, creating
a monocoque device preserves all the
benefits that digital design offers.
Competitors only scan, design, and print
the socket, and then must buy the pylon,
foot, ankle, pyramid connectors, and all
hardware. Our strategy is to offer our
digital services to physicians, allowing us
to get access to many patients without
the limitations of a physical location or a
single clinic. "
LIMBER Prosthetic and Orthotics Inc.
started as a grassroots, student-driven
research effort at UC San Diego's CHEI
and DroneLab, with campus-wide reach
via
its
" Engineering Frontiers (SE 283), " explorexperiential
learning course,
ing human-centric systems. SE283 has
been taught by LIMBER team members
Prof. Falko Kuester and PhD candidate
Luca DeVivo over the past three years.
The team bridges the gap between
engineering and clinical expertise,
POPSafe™ Tracheostomy Tube Sets - A Life-Saving Device
Kay Fuller, President & Co-Founder, Smart Bridge Medical, Inc., Ann Arbor, MI
he Problem: Ventilator-dependent
patients frequently experience
accidental ventilator disconnect
between the tracheostomy tube and the
ventilator; a deadly problem known clinically
as pop-off. This accidental pop-off
T
can occur multiple times per day, sometimes
every hour for some patients.
Hospital clinicians have stated that
ventilator-dependent patients must stay
in the critical care unit (CCU) or the
intensive care unit (ICU) to have someone
within reach to immediately reconnect
the breathing tube to the ventilator
when it pops off. Similar scenarios occur
for ventilator-dependent patients who
are receiving care in a home care or
long-term care environment. If not
which separates it from its competitors.
The group has three part-time members
and one full-time member: Prof.
Falko Kuester, PhD; PhD student
Joshua Pelz; PhD student Luca De Vivo,
and Herb Barack, Certified Prosthetists/
Orthotists. In addition, the group has
worked closely with patients from day
one to make sure it is addressing their
prosthetic needs and including their
perspectives regarding comfort and
function.
The team subsequently was invited to
join the 2019 I-Corp MedTech Ac -
celerator Program, helping create the
roadmap toward at-scale, translational
product development and rollout.
Along the journey, the team has been
inspired and touched by every single
amputee they meet and work with.
" We believe that with our technology
we have a chance to make a big impact
in the world. "
Pressure in lungs
12
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Medical Design Briefs - November 2021

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