Carle Illinois College of Medicine’s student Health Make-a-Thon competition took innovation to an international audience this year, adding a delegation of experts from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. CI MED’s physician-innovators leveraged the presence of international experts and pitched their ideas for technological and process-improvement solutions aimed at advancing and democratizing health care. In the end, three teams led by CI MED students won support to advance ideas for new patient-centered innovations that could improve medical outcomes both locally and globally.
The Health Make-a-Thon is a design-and-pitch competition organized annually since 2018 by the Health Maker Lab (HML), intended to spark new ideas with the potential to revolutionize health care. Medical student-led teams included student collaborators from The Grainger College of Engineering, community members, health care providers, and innovation experts. For the first time, teams were advised by Trinity College’s Richard Reilly, a professor of Neural Engineering, and Consultant Neurologist Colin Doherty. Seamus Donnelly, a Trinity College medical professor, served as one of the competition judges, joining leaders from CI MED, representatives of Carle Health, and industry experts from Canon Medical Systems, ChicagoARC, HOPPR, and Medtronic.
Teams were tasked with addressing a particular clinical problem identified either by practicing clinicians from Carle Health, McKinley Health Center, Christie Clinic, or by fellow medical students. Some teams used 3D printers to fabricate a prototype. Three innovative proposals were selected as winners by a panel of judges known as the Dolphin Tank. The winning ideas – all addressing a health care challenge identified by a CI MED student – are listed below:
1st Place– LapSonix (Prize: $5000)
Team members: CI MED Students: Annie Tigranyan, Anthony Wong, Sanskruthi Guduri, and Debora Nya
Grainger College of Engineering Students: Prakhar Gupta, Asaiah Rock, and Urvshi Thapar
Health Care Provider: Dr. Kainat Zafar
LapSonix is a proposed self-cleaning, anti-fog lens that would provide surgeons with a clear view while performing laparoscopic procedures. Camera lenses used in these surgeries can become obscured and require frequent cleaning. This innovation would use high-frequency ultrasonic waves and an ultrasonic cleaning piezoelectric transducer to efficiently remove fluid, debris, and blood from the lens, allowing the surgeon a clearer view. The lens would use Teflon technology to be anti-fog, water-repellent, and repellent to debris. Additionally, the lens is scratch-resistant, to help ensure high-resolution imaging in laparoscopic emergencies.
2nd Place – NIRolytics (Prize: $3000)
Team members: CI MED Students: Richard Um, Modan Goldman, Lauren Sekiguchi, and Jaime Chen
Grainger College of Engineering Student: Sharon Newton
Carle Resident Physician: Dr. Mohammed Raheel Awan
NIRolytics is a proposed Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) cap designed to help clinicians provide more efficient care for stroke patients by quickly distinguishing between the two major types – hemorrhagic and ischemic strokes. The determination is key to helping doctors determine the most appropriate treatment options. The NIRolytics cap would measure near-infrared light absorbance and quantify changes in blood level and tissue oxygen concentration. The collected data would be input into a computational model that uses AI to swiftly differentiate between ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes. Quicker stroke classification allows clinicians to act quickly to administer brain-saving medications. The system would also include a predictive algorithm using patient history data to determine the optimal timing for administering tissue plasminogen activator (TPA). This innovation is intended to provide a cost-effective alternative to Traditional Mobile Stroke Units with built-in CT scanners which are in use now but are costly and challenging to maintain.
3rd Place – INSite (Prize: $2000)
Team members: CI MED Students: Jonah Dewing and Oluwabusayo Oni
Grainger College of Engineering Students: Soundarya Sivakumar, Daniella Chapman-Rienstra, Adam Markowicz, and Manvitha Veeramreddy
Applied Health Sciences - Healthcare Technology: Yuritzy Tello-Rocha
INSite proposes a groundbreaking insulin pump designed to overcome barriers to efficient insulin delivery for patients with diabetes. Insulin pumps require proper placement in areas of the body with undamaged tissue, but repeated injections at the same site can lead to an accumulation of fat under the skin (lipohypertrophy). INSite would tackle this problem by integrating electrode and ultrasound technology to detect the onset of lipohypertrophy and prompt users to change injection sites. Electronic components would be used to compare distance and impedance calculations, and an intuitive screen would display user-friendly messages. This would also enhance patient awareness, promoting proactive management of insulin pump placement for improved patient outcomes.
All eight participating teams are eligible to submit their innovations to the new CI MED-sponsored Healthcare Track at the Cozad New Venture Challenge in the Spring of 2024. Participating teams will compete for seed funding, training, and mentorship that can transform promising ideas into solutions that make a broad societal impact.