New Patient Safety Technology Challenge Winners Announced in June

First place prize winner Elythea shares their pitch at the Fowler Global Social Innovation Challenge.

New patient safety winners were announced in June at the Fowler Global Social Innovation Challenge (GSIC) and the Healthcare Innovation Program at East Carolina University (ECU).

On June 17, GSIC awarded two Patient Safety Technology Challenge prizes for best tech-enabled solutions. Hosted by University of San Diego and University of St. Thomas, GSIC challenged student entrepreneurs around the world to connect and create sustainable business solutions to global issues through the lens of UN Sustainable Development Goal #3, Good Health and Well-Being.

The first prize winner Elythea pitched a machine-learning platform to predict pregnancy complications. OnPoint Ventilation, the second prize winner, presented their device Bronchosleve which improved lung ventilation by improving ease of insertion and reducing life-threatening complications.

The Healthcare Innovation Pitch Program at East Carolina University partnered with the Office of Licensing & Commercialization for the Patient Safety Technology Challenge, with its business pitch program and competition ending June 22. Participants included ECU clinicians, faculty, students, and staff. Following the National Science Foundation I-Corps model, teams participated in four virtual training sessions that covered customer discovery, problem/solution alignment, business development, and funding. Each virtual training session featured a keynote speaker related to the session's topic and patient safety.

The winning team was Team AERO – Brittany Trotter, I-Corps Ambassador, PhD Candidate in Bioenergetics and Exercise Science, and Dr. Stephanie George and Dr. Jason Yao from the Department of Engineering. They developed a device to detect the risk of pressure injury in patients.

The four other winning ideas included a device to detect the risk of pressure injury in patients, a virtual reality platform to reduce patient stress in clinical settings, discovery of a molecule to treat biofilm formation in cystic fibrosis, and development of a device to improve medication dispensing.

Learn more about past and upcoming Patient Safety Technology Challenge competitions here.