Digital manufacturing technology developer Protolabs has announced MedStar Health and Cleveland Clinic Innovations as joint winners of the Cool Idea Award: Healthcare Grant. These grants provide in-kind manufacturing services to support development of medical products, spurring innovation in the field.

MedStar Health concept improves feeding process for both newborns and nurses

MedStar Health’s gravity feed syringe holder simplifies the feeding of newborns who spend their early days in special, temperature-controlled incubators while being cared for in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Currently, depending on the number of newborns and how often they feed, a nurse can spend hours each day This 3D-printed component serves as a syringe holder for a gravity feed system, similar to an IV. Source: Protolabsholding a syringe above an incubator while milk or liquid formula drains into the baby via a stomach tube.

Use of this invention alleviates the need for a nurse to hold the syringe above the baby during the feed and frees the nurse up for other duties while still attending to the baby during feeding. The compact device can hold four different size syringes and was designed to be suspended from the top of the incubator or attached to an IV pole expanding its use outside the NICU.

This invention illustrates the premise that simple, well-designed solutions can have a substantial impact on patient care.

“Protolabs’ assistance will help us move our gravity feed syringe holder from concept to a working part of our neonatal practice,” said its inventor Tiffany Morris, RN, BSN, who works in the NICU at MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center. “Our team hopes this small device can be a major step forward for NICU nursing and potentially for patient care in other settings.”

The Protolabs grant was used to improve the device’s design. The iterative 3D-printing process helped identify several improvements to the prototype, including smoothing the corners, adding sturdier syringe clips and incorporating gaskets to keep infants safe while protecting the incubator. Clamps securely fasten the gravity feeder device to an IV pole.

Innovative feeding tube device could change half a million lives

Life for people with enteral (feeding) tubes can be difficult. Inventor Andy Williams knows this well. He has struggled with an enteral tube for years. “I was in the hospital in the emergency room on average once a week, sometimes two times a week, for infections caused from leakage around my feeding tube,” said Williams. “I was hospitalized once a month for infections — sometimes for up to a week-long period. Then, I’d have to take antibiotics at home for three to four weeks.”

Williams teamed up with Dr. Eric Blumrosen of Cleveland Clinic in an effort to improve outcomes for these patients. In current practice, a feeding tube is surgically placed directly into the digestive tract, but that The molded device will help those who rely on enternal feeding tubes to lead more active lives. Source: Protolabsinterface is prone to significant leakage. The highly acidic fluids can irritate and injure patients such as Williams, requiring emergency room visits and sometimes hospital stays. Leakage can make social lives very difficult, preventing patients from living a normal life.

The device protects the stoma by forming a wide seal around an enclosed hole into which the tube is inserted. This eliminates issues with friction where the tube rubs against the skin. Also, it provides a more focused opening that enhances the seal surrounding the tube, and allows limited motion of the tube. In the end, the device will be more comfortable, reduce irritation and significantly improve long-term quality of life.

Protolabs’ in-kind manufacturing grant gave Cleveland Clinic Innovations access to manufacturing engineers who helped improve the device’s design for commercial use. It also helped fund prototype injection molded parts.

About the Cool Idea Award: Healthcare Grant

The Cool Idea Award: Healthcare Grant is an extension of Protolabs’ flagship Cool Idea Award program. This extension is open to members of the Cleveland Clinic Healthcare Innovations Alliance, a network of healthcare institutions and corporations focused on innovation. Selected winners are awarded in-kind manufacturing services from Protolabs to support product development, such as building prototypes or supporting initial production runs, with a target for eventual commercialization of products.