Biodesign Competition 2021
2021 was the first year we ran the Biodesign Competition. The idea came from the Biodesign Innovation Subject offered to Masters of Biomedical Engineering and Masters of Business Administration students. We wanted to make it more accessible for a broader variety of students. The competition ran over 6 weeks an included weekly online workshops and a competition booklet. We had 33 participants in 7 teams complete the competition.
The two winning teams were:
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Team ACESS
Preventing complications in patients with peripheral IV cannulas through safer, smarter and improved cannula design. Over 30M cannula insertions take place each year in Australia, leading to approximately 30,000 catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSI) where each infection in turn leads to a $60,000 per patient treatment burden. With delayed removal of the IV cannulas being the biggest reason behind this complication, team ACESS is proposing a system that will alert the clinical staff and the patient when it is time to remove the cannula.
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Team Uterra Medical
Patients with pelvic organ prolapse are fitted with a pessary, however this must be the correct size to function properly. Currently, pessary size is estimated after a digital exam is performed by a gynecologist, and â…“ times this estimate is wrong. Uterra Medical have proposed a device “Poppi” to accurately and comfortably measure the vagina to determine the appropriate size of pessary. The device is collapsable and easy to use meaning a GP or even the patient themselves could use it, and minimises discomfort.
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