Medical Design Briefs - November 2022 - 8

2022 Create The Future Medical Honorable Mentions
COMPARISON
Competitor Shunt:
Ahmed Shunt
Our Product:
Squid Glaucoma Shunt
tients undergo surgical interventions. The less-invasive
SGS implant would make early surgical intervention
an option available to wider sections of the glaucoma
population with presumably better outcomes, thus preventing
blindness.
Preliminary in silico fluidic simulation has shown
that the SGS has the potential to significantly reduce
IOP by 50 percent. Additionally, the efficacy of the
UNCD coating on reducing fibrosis has been tested
and confirmed.
Smaller in size
Ultra nanocrystaline diamond UNCD film
mitomycin C coating
Delivery micro forceps
Schematic comparison of Ahmed and SGS shunts.
A SGS prototype will be manufactured in collaboration
with world-renowned material scientists and engineers
with extensive experience in micromedical devices
at the University of Texas at Dallas and at the University
of Notre Dame. Two fabrication processes, hybrid lowcost
3D conformal printing and photolithography, will
enable the SGS to be cost-effectively produced.
A video of the technology is available at https://www.
youtube.com/watch? v=61h-1mxGYzw&t=2s.
Wearable Continuous Blood Pressure Monitors
Xina Quan, PhD
Zhenan Bao, PhD
Keith Drake, PhD
Doug Halperin
Weyland Leong
Junjun Liu, PhD
Art Muir, MBA
Peter Noymer, PhD
Dave Richardson
Thomas Roxlo, PhD
Will Sutherland
PyrAmes Inc., Cupertino, CA
P
8
yrAmes is a digital health
company focused on
fundamentally transforming
healthcare delivery
through continuous blood
The wearable devices provide a comfortable and easy-to-use alternative
to intermittent cuff measurements.
pressure (BP) monitoring that is
accurate, wireless, and noninvasive. The
devices' comfort and ease-of-use will enable
better BP management for patients
from newborns to seniors. The wearable
devices provide a comfortable and easyto-use
alternative to intermittent cuff
measurements with the timeliness and
accuracy of invasive arterial catheters
(IALs), at reduced cost, and at reduced
risk of pain and complications.
BP is a critical biomarker for many
medical conditions affecting the lives
of hundreds of millions of people.
Tighter BP control can lead to better
outcomes for the 116 million American
adults suffering from hypertension.
Frequent BP measurements are
needed for critical or emergency care,
home medical management for stroke
or cardiac patients, and monitoring of
pregnant women at risk of hypertension
disorders of pregnancy such as
preeclampsia.
To measure blood pressure, standard
BP cuffs only provide spot measurements
and can be time-consuming
and difficult to self-administer. While
frequent measurement with automated
cuff devices (ABPMs) is recommended
by the American Heart Association,
the cuffs are inconvenient and
uncomfortable (and painful for some)
and carry risk of tissue damage. ABPMs
are prescribed for fewer than 1 percent
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of suspected hypertensives; patients
generally are unwilling to
use them for more than 24 hours.
Most important, intermittent cuff
measurements may not be sufficient
for critical care where the
status of a patient can change
from minute to minute.
Continuous BP can be monitored
using an IAL inserted into
the artery to directly measure
changes in BP, but carry risk of
serious complications such as infection,
bleeding, blood clots,
nerve damage, and amputation,
particularly for children with
smaller arteries. Requiring highly
skilled medical staff and equipment,
they are generally only
used in ICU settings.
PyrAmes' technology has been used
successfully on patients ranging from
newborns to adults 89+ years old. The
device provides timely data to treat patients
at risk of rapid changes in BP that
can lead to stroke or multiple organ
failure, while removing the pain and
risk of the current standards of care at
lower cost and increased patient compliance.
It also offers the possibility of
remote monitoring for caregivers.
The wearable device uses paper-thin
capacitive sensors to capture pulse
waveforms processed with neural networks
to produce BP values that meet
the FDA's accuracy guidelines. Its pasMedical
Design Briefs, November 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61h-1mxGYzw&t=2s http://www.medicaldesignbriefs.com
Medical Design Briefs - November 2022

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