“Rescue Stent” Wins Another Award from Society For Biomaterials
MINNEAPOLIS, MN (April 18, 2017) … The “Rescue Stent,” a medical device designed at the University of Pittsburgh to help manage large vessel hemorrhaging after a chest trauma, won the Audience Award at the 3rd Society For Biomaterials (SFB) 2017 Business Plan Competition.
Puneeth Shridhar, MD MS, who is pursuing second doctoral degree in Bioengineering at Pitt, presented the Rescue Stent during the SFB Annual Meeting & Exposition in Minneapolis. The audience members voted for his presentation to receive the $1,000 prize and Audience Award recognition.
The SFB Business Plan Competition evaluates biomaterials-based research innovations from all over the world that have the potential to succeed in the medical device industry. Participants submit abstracts containing an information about the technology, market research and a commercialization strategy. They then present their ideas in the form of a 10-minute pitch followed by a question and answer session from judges and audience members.
Dr. Shridhar was attending the conference to accept another award he won earlier this year: the Honorable Mention Student Travel Achievement (STAR) Award. The SFB Education and Professional Development Committee recognized Dr. Shridhar with the STAR Award for his outstanding student paper titled “The Rescue Stent for Non Compressible Traumatic Hemorrhage.” The paper outlined the development, design and future business strategy for the Rescue Stent.
In 2016, the United States Department of Defense granted $2.5 million in funds for a four-year research collaboration between the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering and UPMC Division of Vascular Surgery to develop the Rescue Stent. The research team is working to make the Rescue Stent the first removable, collapsible and biocompatible trauma stent to prevent internal bleeding from the aorta. The Rescue Stent will have both military and civilian applications and could greatly reduce fatalities caused by gunshot wounds, stabbings and other related torso injuries.
Dr. Bryan Tillman, assistant professor of vascular surgery at the School of Medicine, serves as principal investigator on the study that received funding to develop the Rescue Stent. Joining Dr. Tillman are three engineering professors: Youngjae Chun, assistant professor in the Departments of Industrial Engineering and Bioengineering; Sung Kwon Cho, associate professor of mechanical engineering and materials science; and William Clark, professor of mechanical engineering and materials science.
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Contact: Paul Kovach