SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA 28 August, 2023: The IDE Group is proud to announce the four finalists for the prestigious Building Better Futures for Health (BBFH) Challenge 2023. This year's competition showcases remarkable medical innovations from across Australia, the United States, and Europe, addressing pressing healthcare challenges in surgical oncology, interventional medicine, chronic care and rehabilitation.
The BBFH Challenge offers an unparalleled opportunity to showcase ground-breaking ideas in healthcare and compete for a prize package valued at up to $40,000 in design, development, and commercialisation services from IDE Group. This year's winners will benefit from an exclusive IDE Building Blocks Workshop, where a tailored commercial strategy will be crafted to propel their ventures forward.
Dr Emma Charters, a speech pathologist with Integrated Prosthetics & Reconstruction from Sydney, Australia, is among the finalists. Designed to restore the vital jaw functionality after complex head and neck cancer treatments and surgery, Restorabite is poised to enhance the patient rehabilitation journey. As a 3D-printed device, it combines affordability, portability, and telehealth compatibility.
“The BBFH Challenge draws likeminded medical entrepreneurs together to discuss their ideas to improve healthcare – throwing a bit of competition into the mix makes it all that bit more interesting. Winning the BBFH competition would allow us to learn from IDE experts in innovation and commercialisation strategy and design-led manufacturing,” Dr Charters remarked.
Plio Surgical, a spin-out of Trinity College Dublin in Ireland, has also secured its spot among the finalists. The company is developing an innovative solution in colon cancer surgery to mitigate anastomotic leakage, a severe complication of cancer resection.
“Developing a solution and building a business in the healthcare ecosystem is no simple task. The BBFH Challenge offers an opportunity to work with an enterprise that poses many, if not all the necessary skills to help make our commercialisation journey a successful one. IDE’s experience can help us to optimise our value proposition and product development strategy,” said Gareth Gallagher, Chief Technology Officer of Plio Surgical.
Vause Medical emerges with its guidance platform poised to enhance the lumbar puncture procedure. Combining augmented reality, artificial intelligence (AI), and ultrasound technology, LumVi empowers clinicians to select the best needle insertion points, thus increasing accuracy and efficiency of patient care.
“Winning the BBFH will support our product development efforts, which is a large focus for our team this year. This support is pivotal for our ongoing capital raise efforts and to build our customer pipeline. Ultimately winning this competition would be a major boost to fast track our journey to market,” commented Dr Shelby Holland, Co-founder of Vause Medical.
Across borders, Dialysis Access Innovations in the United States is addressing the escalating demands of dialysis care. With the dialysis patient population on the rise, the team is developing an innovative design to enhance dialysis catheter functionality and longevity, ultimately reducing complications.
“Seeking input, support and expertise from all over the world is what motivated me to enter the BBFH Challenge. Victory in this competition is set to not only help us manufacture a working prototype but also give us more exposure and connections with worldwide expertise,” said Associate Professor Khaled Boubes, The Ohio State University and Founder of Dialysis Access Innovations.
Mark your calendars for the BBFH 2023 live event, scheduled for 13 September 2023, at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney. Witness the future of healthcare innovation unfold. For more information about IDE Group, visit www.idegroup.com.au/bbfh-challenge and to book tickets to the ceremony, visit https://IDEGroupBBFH2023.eventbrite.com.au All ticket proceeds will be donated to Sight For All.
Contact details:
NIKKI WOOD
phone: +61 438 500 007
Email: bbfhchallenge@idegroup.com.au
Website: www.idegroup.com.au
ROZALINA SARKEZIANS
Email: editor@healthindustryhub.com.au
