Industry-Academic Partnerships: An Approach to Accelerate Innovation

Abstract Background Biotechnology companies are process-driven organizations and often struggle with their ability to innovate. Universities, on the other hand, thrive on discovery and variation as a source of innovation. As such, properly structured academic-industry partnerships in medical technology development may enhance and accelerate innovation. Through joint industry-academic efforts, our objective was to develop a technology aimed at global cervical cancer prevention. Methods Our Center for Medical Innovation assembled a multi-disciplinary team of students, surgical residents and clinical faculty to enter in the University of Utah’s annual Bench-to-Bedside (B2B) competition. B2B is a university program centered on medical innovation. Teams are given access to university resources and are provided $500.00 for prototype development. Participation by team members are on a volunteer basis. Our industry partner presented the validated need and business mentorship. The team studied the therapeutic landscape, environmental constraints, and used simulation to understand human factors design and usage requirements. A physical device was manufactured by first creating a digital image (SOLIDWORKS® 3D CAD). Then, using a 3D printer (Stratasys Objet30 Prime 3-D printer), the image was translated into a physical object. Tissue burn depth analysis was performed on raw chicken breasts warmed to room temperature. Varying combinations of time and temperature were tested and burn depth and diameter were measured thirty minutes after each trial. An arithmetic mean was calculated for each corresponding time and temperature combination. User comprehension of operation and sterilization was tested via a participant validation study. Clinical Obstetricians and Gynecologists were given explicit instructions on usage details and then asked to operate the device. Participant behaviors and questions were recorded. Results Our efforts resulted in a functional battery powered hand-held thermo-coagulation prototype in just 72-days. Total cost of development was