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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.

EpiForAll (now called MedsForAll) »

Anaphylaxis is an acute, severe, and potentially life-threatening allergic reaction. A single shot of epinephrine can dramatically improve outcomes for anaphylaxis; however, epinephrine auto injectors can cost hundreds of dollars are not readily available in low- and middle-income countries. EpiForAll is an affordable epinephrine auto-injector used to treat anaphylaxis. EpiForAll revolutionizes auto-injectors by using readily available, low cost epinephrine ampules. EpiForAll won the 2017 Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge and continues to be developed at UW.

Epi4All team

EpiSense »

Epidural blocks are placed daily in hospitals to relieve the pain of childbirth or to limit pain during surgery. Placing an epidural is typically performed in a “blinded” manner without knowing exactly how deep and at what angle the epidural needle has to be inserted into the back to gain access to the epidural space. Inaccurate needle placement can result in severe spinal headache, nerve damage, paralysis, pain or any combination of the above. By providing the angle of needle entry and axial pressure exerted on the needle during the procedure, EpiSense allows anesthesiology trainees to reliably and safely administer epidural anesthesia.

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.