Finalists Chosen for 2022 Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge

The countdown to competition day is on for an excited group of student teams in the 2022 Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge (HIC) at the University of Washington. Judges selected 21 student finalist teams (detailed below) to compete on Thursday, March 3 at the event hosted by the UW Foster School’s Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship. The finalist teams (and alternate team) represent five regional colleges and universities from across the Pacific Northwest, including Washington and British Columbia. That’s tied for the third most in the Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge’s seven-year history.

Dozens of entrepreneurs, investors, and health professionals from the region helped screen the applications online. They chose the finalists from a pool of 46 applicants—the third most ever. Overall, the student teams represented more than two dozen academic departments, programs, and majors.

Finalist teams are competing for more than $37,500 in prizes this year, including the following $2,500 Best Idea Prizes:

• The Jim & Timmie Hollomon Best Idea for a Medical Device, which recognizes a medical device concept (for a physical product) with the most promising opportunity to significantly improve the lives of patients or providers.
• The Kent & Lisa Sacia Best Idea in Digital Health, which recognizes an innovative digital health application that has a high likelihood of being implemented in practical healthcare situations with meaningful impact.
• The Best Idea for Addressing Health Access and Disparities, which recognizes a student innovation or intervention that seeks to close the gap in health disparities for low-income and disadvantaged groups by increasing access to point-of-care healthcare services and/or addressing systemic biases within the current healthcare system.

Teams who were not selected to advance received valuable feedback from judges which could lead to success for their innovations down the road if they choose to apply for the Dempsey Startup Competition or the Jones + Foster Accelerator. You can read the recap of last year’s challenge day on the Foster Blog and watch the 2021 award presentation on the Buerk Center’s YouTube page.

Good Luck to the 2022 Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge Finalists:

Believe Sleeve
Team Believe Sleeve is developing an educational and self-therapeutic system focusing on addressing phantom limb pain, which has no standard treatment, for people with amputation.

• University of Washington-Seattle (Bioengineering)

Bioengineers Without Borders (BWB): Prosthetics
Team BWB: Prosthetics is developing a low-cost, easy to assemble prosthetic limb device for child amputees who suffer from traumatic accidents and do not have easy access to medical care.

• University of Washington-Seattle (Mechanical Engineering)

Bloom
Team Bloom is developing a novel, expandable dilator that aims to make vaginal dilator therapy less painful and more comfortable so customers can take charge of their own road to recovery.

• University of Washington-Seattle (Electrical and Computer Engineering, Public Health, Early Care and Education)

CathConnect
Team CathConnect is developing a novel breakaway catheter mechanism that improves upon the widely used Foley catheters by eliminating additional trauma risk to patients.

• University of Washington-Seattle (Mechanical Engineering, Mechanics, Materials and Manufacturing)

Customouse
Team Customouse is developing an ergonomic, customized fit computer mouse with wrist support that aims to prevent or relieve carpal tunnel syndrome and forearm muscle fatigue.

• University of Washington-Seattle (Art, Art History, and Design, MBA, Bioengineering)

Disha Stay Network
Team Disha Stay Network is developing a system for charity houses to provide flexible and extendable stay options at discounted rates for people traveling great distances for treatment.

• University of Washington-Seattle (Master of Science in Entrepreneurship)

EquinOx
Team EquinOx is developing a pulse oximeter sensor that corrects skin-tone inaccuracies in real-time.

• University of Washington-Seattle (Mechanical Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering)

EZXS
Team EZXS (pronounced “easy access”) is developing an all-in-one medical device that addresses the risk of central line associated bloodstream infections and makes it easier for pediatric nurses to use.

• University of Washington-Seattle (Materials Science and Engineering, Mechanical Engineering)

HeartX
Team HeartX is developing a device that eliminates blood obstruction risks to the coronary artery during a trancatheter aortic valve replacement.

• University of Washington-Seattle (Bioengineering)

inSTENT Connection
Team inSTENT Connection is developing a stent device that causes fewer complications and lowers the chance of post-operation mortality for patients needing gastrointestinal anastomosis, or surgical connection between two organs in the gastrointestinal tract.

• University of Washington-Seattle (Mechanical Engineering)

Nascent Diagnostics
Team Nascent Diagnostics is developing a simple to use, non-invasive diagnostic device to detect biological molecules (i.e., biomarkers) released by early-stage cancer cells that provide early warning signs for disease.

• University of Washington-Seattle (Materials Science and Engineering)

NIMBUS
Team NIMBUS is developing a universal incubator system to minimize the risk of harmful vibrations sometimes created while transporting premature infants to the neonatal intensive care unit.

• University of Washington-Seattle (Mechanical Engineering)

PushStart
Team PushStart is developing an automatic CPR device that can safely and consistently perform life-saving compressions on out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients during transport.

• University of Washington-Seattle (Mechanical Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering)

ReSET
Team ReSET is developing a remote measurement device to grade muscle hypertonia, a condition involving restrictive and excessive muscle tone, so it can be treated in any location.

• University of Washington-Seattle (Bioengineering)

SimpliDoc
Team SimpliDoc is developing an AI-powered medical history search engine to streamline document review for physicians and improve clinical care.

• University of Washington-Seattle, UW-Global Innovation Exchange (GIX) (Computer Science, Global Health, Business, Technology Innovation)

Snooze Control
Team Snooze Control is developing a way for individuals with upper limb impairments to safely and effectively adjust the position of their blankets using voice control.

• University of Washington-Seattle (Mechanical Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering)

SpO24U
Team SpO24U is developing a wearable continuous monitor for patients to access accurate and continuous oxygen saturation levels during movement and exercise.

• University of Washington-Seattle (Bioengineering)

Trialable
Team Trialable is developing a quick, accessible, and privacy-compliant software system that assists clinicians with time-sensitive identification of patients who are candidates for clinical trials.

• University of British Columbia (Neuroscience)

Ultropia
Team Ultropia is developing a high-performance, energy-saving cleaning technology with the goal of expanding access to clean laundry processes and hygienic improvements.

• University of Washington-Seattle (Electrical and Computer Engineering)

XpressiveTech
Team XpressiveTech is developing a wearable medical device that creates a personal pain scale for patients to accurately and objectively measure their pain intensity in a visual manner.

• University of Washington-Seattle (MBA, Medicine)

Zephyr Sleep
Team Zephyr Sleep is developing a programmable mattress and bed frame system that allows users to readjust without assistance from caretakers.

• Washington State University (Mechanical Engineering)

Alternate

SINEW Mask Project
Team SINEW Mask is developing a mask that provides the protection of an N-95 without touching the user’s face.

• University of Washington-Bothell, UW-Seattle (Biology, Mechanical Engineering, Biochemistry, Electrical and Computer Engineering)