Washington State University, $5,000

Co Optical is developing a novel, non-invasive and continuous blood glucose monitoring device to aid in management of type II diabetes. The device, structured as a pair of glasses, will non-invasively record the electrical signals present in the skin around the eyes. These signals, which correspond to the blood glucose level of the person, will be interpreted by the device.

Tulane University, $5,000

Crescentium is a medical device startup company aimed at alleviating complications during common ICU procedures on intubated patients. Crescentium’s initial entry to market is called the GemView LM, which aims to reduce complications during Percutaneous Dilatational Tracheostomies (PDT), Difficult Airway intubations (DA), and Laryngeal Edema diagnoses (LE), three of the most common procedures/problems within ICUs.

Case Western Reserve University, $5,000

Crystics is developing a portable, fast and inexpensive device to diagnose gout.

Tulane University, $5,000

A large number of esophagectomies (surgery to fix a damaged esophagus) are performed each year as the only option to treat esophageal cancer. But quality of life after surgery can be very poor: the excised tissue is often reconstructed from the stomach or large intestine, which means patients have to rely on feeding tubes to stay alive. This team is investigating a new therapy in which stem cells are used to regenerate normal esophageal tissue, avoiding reconstruction and feeding tubes altogether.

Johns Hopkins University, $5,000

This team is developing EasySuds, a low-cost device that will automatically release soap (and then water) out of a faucet, with the goal of increasing handwashing in both developed and developing countries.

http://easysuds.com

University of California, San Diego, $5,000

EatSafe is a handheld, contactless device that gauges the amount of bacterial growth on food to determine if it’s safe for consumption.

EatSafe homepage

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, $5,000

Sepsis has an increasingly high mortality rate (28% – 50%) that causes millions of deaths as well as costing the healthcare system billions of dollars each year. ElectroCyt uses a diagnostic technique that is cost effective and more accurate than current methods of prevention.

Stanford University, $25,000

Increasing need for physical therapy (PT), coupled with ongoing reimbursement changes, is causing a demand for more accessible, higher quality PT care at lower cost. Yet poor patient PT adherence and clinic inefficiency present barriers for patients to receive, and providers to deliver, quality PT care. Footsteps is a mobile health platform that empowers patients with the tools to take control of their at-home PT program, improving patient PT adherence and more cost-efficient care delivery.

Stanford University, $20,000

HandHero is an innovative, static progressive hand splint that empowers young burn survivors to rebuild function and rejoin their community.

Northwestern University, $20,000

Hazel Technologies is developing technology to extend the shelf-life of produce at the retail level. The product uses Northwestern-patented material technology and an industry-standard ethylene inhibitor to control produce ripeness and reduce spoilage..

University of Virginia, $5,000

A major bottleneck in delivering essential human services in resource-poor settings is a lack of communication between communities and service partners. Community members typically lack access to internet and smartphones and are deterred by the upfront cost of calling or texting on a basic cell phone. As a result of these technological and economic barriers, community members don’t proactively message their respective service partners.

This team is developing HiComm, a communication platform that links service partners to communities-in-need around the world. HiComm provides SMS-based, free-to-end-user access to community members and a fully functional web interface for smartphone and internet users. The system’s features include group messaging, local SMS-based searches, and remote data entry.

California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, $20,000

Higea Technologies is utilizing magnetic nanotechnology to clean oceanic oil spills in the most efficient, environmentally friendly, and cost effective way possible.

Stanford University, $5,000

Innoflow is a device that props open the prostatic urethra in order to enable a patient to urinate, providing relief of symptoms arising from prostate enlargement and other conditions.

Innoflow homepage

Northwestern University, $5,000

This team is developing IntelliDrain, a device designed to analyze the composition of the air emerging from leaks in patients that have undergone lung resection surgery.

Cornell University, $5,000

Insomnia is among the most common health complaints, with wide-ranging cognitive and behavioral consequences. Thermoregulation plays a key role in promoting and maintaining sleep. This team is developing sleepwear that produces skin temperature changes in response to internal cues of feeling too warm or too cold, helping improve sleep.

Northwestern University, $5,000

LiOnSafe is a Lithium-Ion Battery Separator that can be used by battery manufacturers to prevent thermal runaway, a situation where an increase in temperature changes the conditions in a way that causes a further increase in temperature, often leading to a destructive result. Overheating and exploding due to thermal runaway is a major pain point for LiB users, who must have safe batteries. LiOnSafe is a membrane, modified with a polymer, that can mitigate thermal runaway by 100%.

University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, $5,000

LiteWater is an ultraviolet (UV) drinking water disinfection device that allows for an easy and economical residential point-of-use water treatment. It both filters and disinfects, killing any harmful microorganisms.

Case Western Reserve University, $5,000

LYGENT is developing a novel, easy-to-use ophthalmic screening and diagnostic tool called the iStrab. It will afford providers with a quick, automated assessment of eye misalignment and other vision problems. The iStrab is intended to be an effective aid in clinical treatment and its simplicity and low cost should increase access to appropriate vision care for millions of children across the globe.

Stanford University, $5,000

After surviving breast cancer many women are affected by a major quality of life issue: pain with sex resulting from vaginal atrophy caused by the cancer treatment. Madorra is developing a non-invasive, non-hormonal device solution for breast cancer survivors.

Madorra homepage

Harding University, $5,000

Malnutrition and food scarcity affects millions. The Mother-Administered Nutritive Aid (MANA) Foundation produces a ready-to-eat peanut butter paste that can save the life of a starving child. While it has been proven effective in deployments to over 17 countries, it’s produced in one location in the US and then shipped in large quantities worldwide, which is expensive and ultimately fails to reach many starving children. MANAMaker is a portable, low-cost device that produces the same MANA food paste to the same quality standards but can be produced on-site as demand arises using primarily local products.