The Future of Medicine: Health Make-a-Thon Winners Design Transformative Solutions

Four teams of innovative doctors have won support to advance their ideas for new technologies to improve patient outcomes in the future, as part of the Carle Illinois College of Medicine’s Fall Health Make-a-Thon (CI MED ). The new patient-centric innovations were proposed by Grainger College of Engineering medical students and students, computer science students, community members and healthcare providers. Their technological innovations aim to improve the care, follow-up and processes of patients both in the hospital and in the outpatient setting. The solutions were born during Carle Illinois’ fifth annual Fall Health Make-a-Thon Contest – a design and presentation contest hosted by the Health Maker Lab, aimed at advancing human health and healthcare.

Teams of medical innovators were tasked with solving a particular clinical problem identified by practicing clinicians at Carle Health or Mayo Clinic. Four entries were selected as winners by a panel of judges known as the Dolphin Tank. The winning ideas are listed below:

3^rd Square (Teams tied each win $1000)
IT IS [You Are Not Alone] (Carle Health problem statement)

The YANA team envisioned a novel wearable device to help address opioid overdoses in new patients or opioid users at high risk of overdose. Their innovation would measure physiological data to detect the possibility of an overdose. The design incorporates a pulse oximeter, Bluetooth and kinetic charging capabilities, and impedance electrodes that would transmit data to a software platform. The device would flag passers-by and allow them to intervene with NARCAN or call 911 for help in the event of an overdose.

Participants: Edward Liang (CI MED), Mihir Patil (CI MED), Mukul Govande (CI MED), Shrey Patel (CI MED), Vedant Jain (CI MED), Uditha Velidandla (Engineering) and Mikal Karim (community member ) .

NexumFlow (Mayo Clinic problem statement)

NexumFlow has designed a new valve to help treat patients with hydrocephalus by continuously monitoring cerebrospinal fluid flow from a ventricular shunt and automatically transmitting any abnormal readings to the hospital’s electronic medical record system . The new valve would be encased in titanium, so it would be compatible with common neuroimaging techniques, including MRI and CT scans.

Participants: Dennison Min (CI MED), Sanskruthi Priya Guduri (CI MED), Zahra Adamji (Engineering), Christopher George (Engineering), Jaz Przybylowicz and Walker Rickord (Engineering).

“The engagement of Carle Health residents/providers and community members provided a very different but valuable perspective to each of the teams during the brainstorming sessions,” said Irfan Ahmad, CI Assistant Dean of Research. MED.

The Carle Illinois College of Medicine’s Fall Make-a-Thon—held annually through its Health Maker Lab—challenges future medical innovators to work with community team members and others disciplines at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to develop innovative solutions to broad health and wellness issues or healthcare needs. The Make-a-Thon supports Carle Illinois’ commitment to advancing healthcare and democratizing healthcare innovation.