CI MED Health Innovations Advance to Semi-Finals of 2026 Global Health Innovation Challenge

From new surgical devices to special glasses for aging eyes, Carle Illinois College of Medicine innovations will take center stage at the Global Health Innovation Grand Challenge competition in Taipei, Taiwan, in April. CI MED teams will present engineering-driven, technology-based solutions to advance patient care, diagnostics, treatment, disease prevention, and streamlined clinical processes. 

Thirteen CI MED teams have been selected as semi-finalists, competing with student innovators from around the world for a chance at start-up and development funding. Last year, the Grand Challenge Competition awarded $250,000 to student entrepreneurs, including $225,000 to CI MED teams.

The CI MED innovations featured in this year’s competition are described below. 

• NeuroGuard – A new surgical add-on device aimed at making mastectomies safer by combining nerve stimulation capabilities with existing intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM) technology to pinpoint the location of important nerves within the surgical field. This team advanced to the finals of last year’s competition.
  Team Lead: Prateek Dullur. Teammates: Meenakshi Singhal, Nikita Chigullapally, Nicolas Kelhofer, Kathure Kiunga.
• Aquila – Liquid-based tunable-focus eyeglasses designed to restore smooth, natural, and personalized accommodation across all stages of presbyopia, a condition that affects near vision as people age. 
  Team Lead: Peter Podar. Teammates: Wedam Nyaaba, Bilaal Ansari, Sangjoon Lee.

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  VidaCloud - An autonomous pressure management system designed for anyone at risk of pressure injuries, including the elderly, patients following surgery, people with chronic conditions, or people with limited mobility.  The system monitors, analyzes, and responds to pressure in real time, preventing tissue damage before it begins. 
  Team Lead: Dr. Daniel Ng (Carle Illinois College of Medicine & New York Presbyterian). Teammates: Malik Padellan (Johns Hopkins University), Joseph Mah, Stephen Freihammer, Sanjay Bommisetty, Natalie Witek.
• Reducing Greenhouse Emissions from Metered-Dose Inhalers – This modified metered-dose inhaler attachment is designed to capture hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) propellants during routine inhaler use. 
  Team Lead: Tyler Nofzinger. Teammates: Timothy Huang, Emily Edwards, Derek Anderson, Chris Lingat, Gaurang Amonkar. 
• Independent Rotating Toll Channel Bronchoscope – This innovation improves on the bronchoscope, a tubular device with an attached light and camera used to examine the lungs and windpipe. This version incorporates a 360-degree, independently rotating tool and suction channel for use in both standard and robotic bronchoscopies to evaluate lung disease, infection, and malignancy. 
  Team Lead: Tyler Nofzinger. Teammates: Timothy Huang, Emily Edwards, Derek Anderson, Chris Lingat, Gaurang Amonkar.
• Bilayer-Hydrogel Ultrasound - A sterilizable dual-layer sleeve that mounts directly over the probe of an ultrasound, fully replacing the need for acoustic gel. The outer hydrogel layer conforms to patient anatomy, while the inner layer maintains a stable, uniform acoustic interface between the probe and skin throughout the exam. 
  Team Lead: Tyler Nofzinger. Teammates: Timothy Huang, Emily Edwards, Derek Anderson, Chris Lingat, Gaurang Amonkar.

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  PedalPro – A new pedal device designed to treat or prevent blood clots in the veins, particularly the lower extremities. The non-motorized, adjustable device allows patients of varying abilities to remain active while in bed and activate blood flow.
  Team Lead: Michael Nguyen-Truong. Teammates: Christian Guerrero-Juarez, Daniel Cheah, Kristy Lin, Daniel Chun, Daniel Kim, Mary Chronopoulou, Bella Tortorici.
• Daily Clinical Summary - A patient-centered daily summary designed to improve a patient’s understanding of inpatient care throughout a hospital stay. The summary would provide clear, plain-language explanations of why a patient is hospitalized, key updates from the past 24 hours, the plan for the current day, activity and dietary restrictions, and factors influencing discharge readiness. 
  Team Lead: Timothy Huang. Teammates: Tyler Nofzinger, Emily Edwards, Derek Anderson, Chris Lingat, Gaurang Amonkar.
• InvoGenix - An explainable AI system built on global clinical standards specifically for small and independent medical practices. The tool serves as an assistant to convert patient-physician interactions into customizable clinical notes. It supports standardized diagnostic and treatment codes to ensure that patient records remain complete and that insurance claims are approved. 
  Team Lead: Cindy Mei Teammates: Alice Yu, Alex Kim, Ananya Kavatekar, Krutang Thaker, Alex Cerullo.
• Lesio Scan AI - A clinically informed, image-based risk-assessment platform designed to enable objective, early triage for oral cancers using standard intraoral photographs. Unlike traditional screenings that depend heavily on subjective interpretation, LesioScan provides data-driven categorization of lesion risk that can be used across both high-resource and low-resource settings. 
  Team Lead: Anjul Bansal. Teammates: Manan Sanghavi, Sangjoon Li, Arnav Kacker, Amogh Angadi.
• FadeX - A smart vaporizer device that allows e-cigarette users to taper their nicotine usage over time using a systematic, algorithmic approach. 
  Team Lead: Shrey Patel. Teammates: Vedant Jain, Dennison Min.
• AllignPrep - A digital prehabilitation platform designed to prepare patients mentally, physically, nutritionally, and behaviorally for major surgery, with the initial focus on hepatobiliary (liver, pancreas, bile duct, and/or gallbladder) surgery. 
  Team Lead: Jason Zhang. Teammates: Victoria Rivera, Jaime Chen.
• My Post Op AI - A patient advocacy platform designed to reduce preventable 30-day hospital readmissions by transforming hospital discharge into a continuous, supportive care experience, with the initial focus on stroke patients. 
  Team Lead: Neema Darabi. Teammates: Varshal Patel, Niranjan Ramanand. 

The Global Health Innovation Grand Challenge is part of the annual summit of the Global Consortium for Innovation and Engineering in Medicine, an international public-private-government collaborative serving the world as the premier global network to advance medicine through engineering and innovation. GCIEM is led by Carle Illinois College of Medicine, the world’s first engineering-based medical school. The group’s first Global Summit was held in April 2025 at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.