Here's an Idea

Spinal cord injury affects 17,000 Americans and 700,000 people worldwide each year. Prognoses are often tragic and social costs exceed $2 million (U.S. and EU) in the first five years of care. A research team at NeuroPair, Inc. won the Grand Prize in the 2023 Create the Future Design Contest for a revolutionary approach to spinal cord repair. Dr. Yohannes Dapprich, NeuroPair’s CEO and founder, discusses their groundbreaking approach that addresses a critical need in the medical field, offering a fast and minimally invasive solution to a long-standing problem.

This is the last episode of Here’s an Idea. We will be back with a brand-new podcast series in 2024.

Patients are more likely to adhere to their treatment plans when drug-delivery devices are user-friendly. So, what can device developers do to ensure safety but also provide a positive user experience? Using human factors engineering, developers can design features to prevent errors and contribute to the successful use of the device.

On this episode of Here's an Idea™, talking Jeff Morang, Director of Human Factors Engineering at BlackHägen Design, explains what designers need to know about human factors for combination devices.

Advances in integrated microelectronics have enabled a revolution in ever smaller and more powerful medical sensors. One such use is for detecting pressure in the eye. InjectSense has invented an implantable sensor that detects direct dynamic pressure in the eye and transmits high-fidelity data from inside the eye of a patient to their physician.

On this episode of Here's an Idea™, Ariel Cao, founder and CEO of InjectSense and Dave Fromm, chief operating officer and vice president of engineering at Promex, discuss this powerful sensor and how they are bringing it to market.

Treatments for neurological disorders such as epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, dystonia, and other related neurological disorders often include invasive surgery to implant electrodes in specific brain regions to help control motor symptoms. But what if there were technologies that offered minimally invasive options while improving patient outcomes and reducing costs?

On this episode of Here's an Idea™, Dave Rosa, CEO of NeuroOne, discusses a system that has the potential for transformative improvement in neurosurgery.

The medical device industry landscape is becoming increasingly complex with an evolving regulatory environment. The focus is now data-centric systems vs. equipment-centric, creating a fundamentally different business model. What does this new normal look like and how can medical device and life sciences businesses best address it?

On this episode of Here's an Idea™, Matt Eisendrath, president of Full Spectrum, discusses how the medtech companies can adapt to change and stay at the forefront of innovation.

Rapid and effective control of bleeding can be the difference between life and death in surgery, on the battlefield, and in emergency situations. Excessive bleeding can lead to a rapid drop in blood volume, causing hypovolemic shock, which can be fatal if not addressed promptly. By stopping bleeding quickly, medical personnel can prevent shock and increase the chances of survival.

On this episode of Here's an Idea™, Joe Landolina, CEO and co-founder of Cresilon, discusses a plant-based gel technology that is a unlike any other hemostatic agents.

On this episode of Here's an Idea™, James F. Jordan, Healthcare & Life Sciences Expert, President of StraTactic, and the National Co-Chairman of the BIO Bootcamp, discusses where AI can have the greatest impact in medical technology and what medical device developers should consider as they integrate AI.

Efficient inventory management is crucial for manufacturing companies to maintain smooth operations. Pittsburgh-based Gather AI is using drones to automate inventory monitoring processes for warehouse operators to decrease the cost of inventory, improve productivity, and boost revenue. Sankalp Arora, CEO and Co-Founder of Gather AI, discusses how the idea of using drones to find and fix inventory errors in warehouses originated as well as the design challenges the team faced while developing this technology.  

University of Arizona engineers have developed a new system that allows autonomous vehicles to scout out underground habitats for astronauts. On this episode of Here's an Idea™, Wolfgang Fink, Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer engineering at UArizona, discusses how the approach could help address one of NASA’s Space Technology Grand Challenges by helping overcome the limited ability of current technology to safely traverse environments on comets, asteroids, moons, and planetary bodies such as Mars.

Effective lubrication is essential to any mechanical system. For example, it is responsible for providing a continuous flow of oil to the engine of the aircraft. As aircrafts have evolved, so have lubrication systems.

Now, a Florida-based startup Zulu Pods, has developed the ZPod, a self-contained, sealed, oil tank and pump that can be installed into existing low-cost expendable jet engines. The ZPod is small enough to fit in the palm of a hand and is produced with 3D printing. Daniella Sladen, Co-Founder and CTO of Zulu Pods, talks about what inspired her to create ZPods and how the technology promises to revolutionize lubrication systems design for single-use engines like those found in drones and missiles.

Fabrics haven’t changed all that much. For years, a shirt has quite simply been a shirt. But a team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology wants to add function to the fibers. What if your shirt, for example, contained electronics that could track your heartbeat or the heartbeat of your unborn child? A team from MIT and the Rhode Island School of Design created a fabric microphone, quite literally turning your clothing into a detector of sound. And the integration of electronics is subtle. The technology blends in with the material visually and it’s comfortable to the wearer, according to Dr. Yoel Fink, a professor at MIT and a lead researcher on the microphone project, who discusses the future for smart fabrics in this episode.

Pharma industries, transportation services, the energy sector, and mining companies are looking for a new place to do business, and it’s more than 200,000 miles from Earth.

The private sector is heading to the Moon – a world of potential resources like metal, water, and solar power, according to our guest on this week’s Here’s an Idea: Blair DeWitt, CEO and Co-founder of the Massachusetts-based Lunar Station Corporation.

“When you look at how private enterprise globally is starting to see the Moon the way we’ve seen it for years, they’re seeing it as our eighth continent,” said DeWitt in our Here’s an Idea podcast.

With his company’s data intelligence, DeWitt wants to answer two critical questions for this next generation of explorers: Where to look for resources, and how to get there.

Over 145 million electric vehicles are set to take the road by 2030 and a major component of the new class of electric vehicles – lithium-ion batteries – is rarely recycled. 

Canadian battery recycling company Li-Cycle is aiming to change that through its sustainable process to provide an end-of-life solution for lithium-ion batteries, while creating a secondary supply of critical battery materials.

On this episode of Here's an Idea™, Kunal Phalpher, Chief Strategy Officer at Li-Cycle, discusses why we haven’t been able to recycle batteries effectively in the past and how that’s changing. Phalpher also talks about the company’s “spoke and hub” model.

Luge is one of the three sliding sports on the program at the 2022 Winter Olympics being held in Beijing this month. The sport requires athletes to barrel down an ice track on small sleds accelerating to speeds of nearly 90 mph.

Traditionally, lugers design and build their own sleds, often through trial and error. Now, Clarkson Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering Professors Doug Bohl and Brian Helenbrook, in collaboration with Colby Mazzuca of Aeroworks, are using advanced computational and experimental methods to optimize sled geometries for developing faster, more aerodynamic sleds.

On this episode of Here's an Idea™, Professor Bohl discusses the new approach to help shave off those extra 1/1000ths of a second that can be the difference between silver and gold at the Olympics.

Dr. Frits Bliek and his team at Ocean Grazer are building an "Ocean Battery" that brings hydrodam technology to the sea. On this episode of Here's an Idea, Bliek, CEO of the Netherlands-based energy company, talks about an innovative idea for power that involves plastic bags, underground reservoirs, and a big drill.