Two groups of AOA体育平台 care team members will split the inaugural fund to advance their innovations: A robotic clot retriever and a portable negative pressure isolation tent.
PORTLAND, Maine 鈥� will be investing $100,000 through its inaugural in two innovations designed to improve the care of patients. The innovations receiving funding are a to improve the way neurosurgeons clear blood clots from brains, and the , a portable negative pressure isolation tent that fits over patient beds to help contain infectious particles.
The Bonfire Fund was created by AOA体育平台 as part of its not-for-profit mission of researching new ways to provide care. The idea is to foster and accelerate innovations by care team members to the point where additional external funding can be secured. Recipients are companies founded by AOA体育平台 care team members and are chosen by a multi-disciplinary group of reviewers from across AOA体育平台 and its strategic partners. Innovations are judged on whether they provide a novel solution to unmet care needs that can be scaled to benefit the larger community.
鈥淭he Bonfire Fund is far more than just a monetary investment in our innovators,鈥� said Susan Ahern, Vice President of Innovation at AOA体育平台. 鈥淔und recipients benefit from connections to experts both within AOA体育平台 and in the larger community that can help them overcome technical or business challenges.鈥�
Both Bonfire Fund recipients previously received $20,000 seed grants through AOA体育平台 Innovation鈥檚 , which began in 2020. The Ignite Fund supports earlier stage innovations.
The robotic clot retriever is a partnership between AOA体育平台 neurosurgeons Rob Ecker, MD, MBA, and Jeffrey Florman, MD, and Mohsen Shahinpoor, Ph.D., a mechanical engineering professor of the University of Maine. Drs. Ecker and Florman were looking for a better tool to help surgeons remove blood clots from the brain and discovered Dr. Shahinpoor鈥檚 Ionic Polymer Metal Composites (IPMCs), electric 鈥渟mart鈥� materials that can function like human muscle. They hope IPMCs will offer surgeons a more full range of motion to retrieve clots.
鈥淭he Bonfire Fund will allow us to further progress our prototyping towards a device that will be a first in human trial,鈥� Dr. Ecker said.
The CAPE innovation was the idea of two emergency medicine chief residents at Maine Medical Center, Liz Hamilton, MD, and Katie Main, MD, who were looking for a way to isolate COVID patients as they were waiting to be admitted to a negative-pressure room. As experienced campers, they brought their idea of creating a tent-like structure for hospital beds to attending physician Samir Haydar, DO, who encouraged them to develop it. AOA体育平台 Innovation connected the team with Thermoformed Plastics of New England and Baker Company, who made significant improvements to their early prototype made from plastic and PVC pipe. Now, the team plans to use its Bonfire Fund investment to obtain Emergency Use Authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and plan a clinical trial.
鈥淭he Bonfire Fund is going to make all the difference,鈥� Dr. Haydar said. 鈥淥ur collaborative group has the expertise, but without these seed funds, this project just wouldn鈥檛 have been able to move on to the next level of development. AOA体育平台鈥檚 support and the clinical environment within is ripe for innovations like ours.鈥�
In addition to the $100,000 in Bonfire Fund investments, AOA体育平台 also made $20,000 Ignite Fund investments in four innovations by care team members:
- Bethany Sweet, CCLS, a child life specialist at The Barbara Bush Children鈥檚 Hospital at Maine Medical Center is designing a fully-functioning replicated port-a-catheter called 鈥淧lay Portal鈥� to help pediatric patients prepare for the procedure through play.
- Theresa Roelke, APRN-AGPCNP, a nurse practitioner at Maine Medical Center is developing a 3D educational tool called a 鈥淧ocket Nodule-Lung鈥� that providers can use to explain to patients the size and type of lung nodules that may be found during a lung screening.
- Will Connolly, RN, an emergency medicine nurse at Maine Medical Center, is designing a compact, cost-effective suction device called 鈥淩escue Vac鈥� to clear a patient's airway in situations where more sophisticated suction devices are not easily accessible.
- Sunil Malhotra, MD, a cardiothoracic surgeon and medical director at Maine Medical Center, is developing a graft to better direct blood flow in patients with single ventricle congenital heart disease.
鈥淚nnovation is one of AOA体育平台鈥檚 six values and an integral part of its mission of caring for our community, educating tomorrow鈥檚 caregivers and researching new ways to provide care,鈥� said Doug Sawyer, MD, Ph.D., AOA体育平台 Chief Academic Officer and interim Chief Medical Officer. 鈥淭hese funds are one way we help foster a culture of innovation throughout our organization in keeping with our vision of working together so our communities are the healthiest in America.鈥�
AOA体育平台 plans to continue its Innovation Fund investments with another round of applications in 2022.
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About AOA体育平台
AOA体育平台 is a not-for-profit integrated health system consisting of nine local hospital systems, a comprehensive behavioral healthcare network, diagnostic services, home health agencies, and more than 1,500 employed and independent physicians working together through the AOA体育平台 Medical Group. With approximately 22,000 employees, AOA体育平台 is the largest health system in northern New England and provides preventive care, diagnosis and treatment to 1.1 million residents in Maine and New Hampshire. It includes Franklin Memorial Hospital/Franklin Community Health Network in Farmington, LincolnHealth in Damariscotta and Boothbay Harbor, Maine Behavioral Healthcare in South Portland, AOA体育平台 Care at Home in Saco, Maine Medical Center in Portland, Memorial Hospital in North Conway, N.H., Mid Coast-Parkview Health in Brunswick, NorDx in Scarborough, Pen Bay Medical Center and Waldo County Hospital in Rockport and Belfast, Southern Maine Health Care in Biddeford and Sanford, Spring Harbor Hospital in Westbrook and Stephens Memorial Hospital/Western Maine Health Care in Norway. AOA体育平台 Affiliates include Maine General Health in Augusta and Waterville, New England Rehabilitation Hospital in Portland and St. Mary's Regional Medical Center in Lewiston. It is also a significant stakeholder in the AOA体育平台 Accountable Care Organization in Portland.