Stories
Read about interesting projects coming out of Stanford Biodesign and the remarkable people who make them happen.
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DxD Event Showcases the Power of Mentoring for Women
After an industry survey found that women with mentors scored significantly higher on questions around job satisfaction and an inclusive environment than women without, DxD HealthTech launched a series of virtual speed mentoring events to bring early and mid-career women together with senior industry executives for a fast-paced 90 minutes of career advice and networking.
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Helping Define the Future of Healthcare in Israel
2016-17 Stanford Biodesign Innovation Fellow Leor Perl is working to advance the innovation ecosystem in Israel on several fronts. As an interventional cardiologist, he uses his patient experience to inspire ideas to improve care. He launched an innovation training hub inside his hospital that is moving multiple projects towards the market. And he’s putting his training to work each day as CMO of a health technology start-up that recently completed its first-in-human trials.
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Bioengineering Students Help Keep Peritoneal Dialysis Patients Out of the Hospital
When Alisha Birk, Mark Buckup, and Janelle Kaneda teamed up in the Bioengineering Senior Capstone Design course, the three undergraduate seniors knew nothing about kidney disease or the struggles of patients undergoing dialysis. But by the end of the academic year, they had developed an infection-detecting technology that could help keep peritoneal dialysis patients out of the hospital. Evidencing the potential of this approach, their solution won a $75,000 prize at the national KidneyX competition.
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Training the Innovation Team
Managing the team dynamic is as essential to the success of an innovation project as choosing the right problem to solve. Learn how the Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign's director of team learning and design, Douglas Rait, helps the Innovation Fellowship teams address important unmet health needs and improve patient care.
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Patient-centric Approach Helps Bioengineering Students Simplify Self-Catheterization
Women unable to urinate voluntarily due to injury or illness have to perform clean intermittent catheterization (CIC) in order to empty their bladders. The procedure is difficult and often causes urinary tract infections. Inspired to make life easier for these patients, a team of senior undergraduate bioengineering students set out to develop a more intuitive approach.
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On-Demand Home Healthcare for the Elderly
In Singapore, the limited availability of home healthcare compels elderly patients and those with chronic conditions to seek care in hospital emergency rooms when they experience routine complications. This practice takes up beds needed for urgent care and results in unnecessary hospital admissions. After learning the biodesign innovation process as a Singapore-Stanford Biodesign fellow, Dr. Rena Dharmawan used her training to help develop a better solution.
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Helping Patients Breathe Easier
Many lung diseases cause thick mucus to accumulate in the airways, threatening patients’ ability to breathe and increasing their vulnerability to infection. Treatment involves medication as well as twice-daily physical therapy sessions to help patients expel the mucus. After watching patients struggle with the difficult and time-consuming nature of this essential therapy, one team of Singapore-Stanford Biodesign Fellows resolved to invent a better solution.
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Tackling an Uncomfortable Problem
Hemorrhoids are one of the world’s most common ailments. Early-stage symptoms including itching, pain, and rectal bleeding are distressing, but treatment options are typically limited to lifestyle modifications and sub-optimal over-the-counter remedies. After realizing that a better solution for early-stage hemorrhoids was needed both in the West and in Asia, where the problem is even more prevalent, the 2014 Singapore-Stanford Biodesign fellows began working on a solution.
More About Our Impact
Learn more about the Stanford Biodesigners, their exciting careers, and the impact they’re having in the healthcare field.