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Clinicians

Clinician involvement

Engineering Innovation in Health (EIH) promotes interdisciplinary collaborations between engineers and a wide range of clinicians with the goal of developing technical solutions to pressing challenges in health care.

We invite any health care professional to submit an unmet health challenge. Previous EIH projects have involved more than 100 clinicians, with diverse training and specialties, including medical doctors, surgeons, nurses, physical therapists, dentists, pharmacists, and pathologists.

Involvement

Submitting your unmet need

The EIH process starts with submitting an unmet health challenge and ultimately ends with a working prototype solution, which can take the form of a device, process, or application.

It takes only a few minutes to submit your initial unmet challenge via the Clinical Project Application. The applications asks you to describe the unmet health challenge, how the challenge is currently addressed, and your vision for how the project might move forward.

Selection process

In late summer (August/September), EIH invites a select group of submissions to give a reverse pitch, describing their unmet needs to our selection committee. The projects that the committee selects move forward in the first phase (October-December) that focuses on deep and holistic understanding of the unmet health challenge.

We often receive more than 50 submissions each year. Typically 10 to 15 projects are invited to participate in the autumn quarter class, and 6 to 8 projects move forward during winter and spring quarters for full development.

Time commitment

The submitting clinician (or team of clinicians) will form a team with engineering students and faculty. Autumn quarter requires roughly 1 to 3 hours per week of clinician time plus attendance at the Fall Showcase in December. If your project is selected for full development during winter and spring quarters (January–June) the time commitment will increase marginally.

There are no direct costs to the participating clinicians; however, we always welcome direct support to the program from individuals, departments, and industry.

 

Submit a health challenge

 

Benefits

Prototype solution and intellectual property

If your project is selected for full development, you will receive the solution to your health challenge in the form of a working prototype (device, process, app) in June. You and your team will submit the invention to CoMotion for further consideration for a U.S. patent application. A large percentage of EIH projects have pursued patent applications.

Preliminary data and comprehensive report

You will receive a comprehensive report that covers the background of the unmet need, the existing approaches and technologies that address the challenge, the regulatory pathway, preliminary market opportunity, and background intellectual property, as well as several solution designs and their preliminary data.

Future opportunities

The solution and report provides an abundance of opportunities to move the project forward:

  • Submit a patent for the innovation.
  • Use the report information and preliminary data gathered for subsequent publications and grant applications.
  • Evaluate the innovative solution in the clinic (with appropriate IRB and FDA considerations).
  • Begin the process of spinning out a start-up company.

Sample projects

For a full list of previous projects, visit the Projects section.

InstaQTc »

Many medications are known to prolong the QTc interval, which is a marker for the potential of ventricular arrhythmia and a risk of sudden death. The QTc represents electrical depolarization and polarization of the ventricles and is measured with full EKG measurements, which is time-consuming and costly. As a result, the QTc is not monitored as closely as recommended. InstaQTc is a simple hand-held device that provides the QTc interval using only 3 electrodes, thereby enabling clinicians to efficiently monitor patients at risk for prolonged QTc interval.

Sole Train »

People with limited mobility due to neurological disorders are commonly prescribed rocker sole orthoses to improve walking ability and encourage a natural walking motion. The current process for making rocker soles is costly and time-consuming due to the iterative nature of determining the optimal rocker shape. Sole Train is a rocker sole that features a PVC cushion that can be easily adjusted before the air is evacuated from the cushion, leaving a rigid sole that can withstand the forces of walking.

Custom rocker sole orthotics

SaniClaw: Easing Germicidal Wipe Dispensing in Health Care Facilities »

Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) compromise provider care and treatment, add to unreimbursed financial burden, and could lead to life-threatening events. While all items and surfaces in the clinical care setting need to be wiped down with germicidal wipes, the wipes are a challenge to dispense and the dispensers themselves are often covered in pathogens. SaniClaw is a disposable claw that assists in threading the initial wipe and was designed with key features to prevent accumulation of pathogens on the dispenser and ultimately curb the incidence of infections.