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Industry

Industry involvement

Engineering Innovation in Health (EIH) develops technical solutions to pressing challenges in health. We welcome projects from your company that will benefit from a collaborative working team of industry professionals, UW students, and faculty.

Benefits

By participating in EIH, you have the opportunity to:

  • Develop innovative technical solutions that bring value to your company.
  • Vet a solution to a challenging problem, perhaps one that you don’t have the resources to pursue in-house.
  • Generate a deeper understanding of a health challenge, market, current solutions, intellectual property, and regulatory strategy that engages a comprehensive set of stakeholders.
  • Work closely with a diverse group of UW students and faculty from engineering, health sciences, and business.
  • Strengthen your relationship with the UW for recruiting student talent and for engaging in future projects.
  • Leverage world class infrastructure and facilities at UW.
  • Receive a nonexclusive commercial license to any project intellectual property developed by the student team or UW employees.

Involvement

The Engineering Innovation in Health program runs for 9 months. Projects typically start in the fall (October) and run for three quarters (ending in June).

Participating companies pay a sponsorship fee and designate an employee lead to mentor the team. The mentor meets with the team weekly to help them understand the problem in depth and guide the solution pathway.

Intellectual property is governed by existing federal and state laws and is subject to best practices of the University of Washington technology transfer office, CoMotion. A company wholly owns its existing intellectual property. A nonexclusive, commercial license will be granted to any project intellectual property developed by the student team or UW employees. Additional, pre-negotiated options for exclusive licenses have been standardized as part of the Washington Innovation Advantage Program.

The EIH process starts with industry sponsors or clinicians submitting a project idea that focuses on an unmet health challenge and ultimately ends with a working prototype solution, which can take the form of a device, process, or application. Project submissions are due on a rolling basis between May and August each year. We welcome you to reach out to us and discuss your ideas. Please contact EIHealth@uw.edu to learn more.

 

Submit a health challenge

 

Sample projects

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

SensitIV »

Intravenous (IV) fluids are a therapy used ubiquitously in critically ill patients; they are the mainstay of treatment in patients who are in shock (low blood pressure resulting in end-organ damage) from severe infection or traumatic hemorrhage until the underlying cause can be found and treated. However, it is difficult to judge the appropriate amount of IV fluids to administer. Too little, and the patient remains in shock, at risk of stroke, heart attack, and death. Too much, and the patient is at risk of fluid flooding their organs, increasing length of ICU stay, length of ventilator dependence, need for dialysis, and risk of postoperative infections. Further, patients who suffer a large insult also sustain damage to the lining of their capillaries, resulting in highly permeable, “leaky” blood vessels. This last variable, capillary permeability, is currently an unknown, without which we are walking a tightrope blindfolded. Bedside knowledge of capillary permeability, and thus the efficacy of IV fluid administration, would enable clinicians to successfully get a patient out of life-threatening shock while avoiding the life-threatening complications of over treatment.

WiOTech »

In an increasingly tech-centered healthcare system, keeping wires organized has become a challenge in many life critical situations. The WiOTech team explored many ways to keep wires organized, untangled, and sterile. Their current solution uses compliant lobes that will securely hold a coil of wires while remaining easy to remove

A member of the WiOTech team demonstrates one of the many prototypes created over the year.

CathAlign: Automatic Pressure Transducer Leveling »

Treatment decisions in Critical Care are made based on readings from external transducers that are manually leveled (by eye or by leveler) to the phlebostatic axis. A clinician may level the external transducer 2-3x per hour based on patient activity or questionable readings. CathAlign combines a novel sensing solution with ehanced transducer attachement safety features to improve nursing workflow and reduce avoidable hospital errors.