Company’s Orchid Safety Release Valve Is Designed to Reduce Accidental IV Dislodgements
ATLANTA, Georgia – The early success of Linear Health Sciences in developing its Orchid™ Safety Release Valve to prevent unwanted dislodgement of IV catheters was highlighted in a panel discussion at the recent annual conference of the Southeastern Medical Device Association (SEMDA).
Dan Clark, co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Linear Health Sciences, represented the company on the panel, which was titled “The Intersection of Digital Health and MedTech Innovation.”
Clark discussed medical technology innovation from the entrepreneur’s perspective, including how the company identified the value of its approach to improving vascular access and nursing care. He also described how Linear Health conceived its development process and the path the company took to obtain its seed funding.
“We’ve benefited from our ability to make the right fit at the right time with our medtech accelerator partnerships,” Clark said. “Different accelerator programs offer different capabilities, and it’s been very helpful to match those capabilities with the stages of our development.”
Linear Health Sciences is developing safety release valve technology for a variety of medical tubing. The company’s first product, the Orchid Safety Release Valve, is designed to safely prevent the unwanted dislodgement of IV catheters.
The Medtech Innovator 2016 competition chose the company as a semifinalist and also awarded it a scholarship into Medtech Innovator’s Virtual Accelerator program.
“Our work with MedTech Innovator gave us early visibility for the product concept,” Clark said. “Our more recent partnership with GCMI has been more technically focused, which nicely fits the stage of our product development as we move closer to market launch.”
GCMI is a comprehensive medical-device innovation center that guides the development and commercialization of new medical devices. Linear Health Sciences was the first company to receive a grant to work with GCMI in its Medtech Accelerator program.
“Their participation in the SEMDA panel demonstrates how the medical device industry and investment communities feel about the company’s impressive start,” said Tiffany Wilson, CEO of the Global Center for Medical Innovation (GCMI). “The company has made a strong impression because it has an elegant technology that’s designed to meet an important need in vascular access. It also has a clear, innovative vision about how to bring the device to market, and that in turn has helped attract notable, early investments.”
Clark said another key to the company’s rapid development has been the ability to transfer engineering knowledge and technology from other fields into the medical space: “We’ve been able to identify where there was similar technology in other industries that could be successfully adapted to benefit patients and clinicians.”
The company was a popular exhibitor at the Infusion Nurses Society annual conference this month. It will also exhibit at the upcoming annual meeting of the Association for Vascular Access, September 16-19 in Phoenix.
The Orchid Safety Release Valve breaks away under tension and seals off flow in the IV line, creating a sterile barrier. The IV pump then recognizes the line as occluded, triggering an alarm to notify staff of the disconnection. The concept is analogous to breakaway devices that help prevent hazardous fuel spills when a customer at a gas station mistakenly drives away with the gas nozzle still in the fuel tank.
Potential advantages of the valve include:
For nurses:
* Greater efficiency through avoiding dislodgements and unscheduled IV restarts
* Less exposure to sharps injuries and potentially infected blood
For hospitals:
* Reduced potential for infiltrations, phlebitis and healthcare-acquired infections
* Cost savings due to less need to replace entire IV setups because of accidental dislodgements
* Greater patient satisfaction
For patients:
* Fewer IV restarts including painful needlesticks
* Reduced potential for more invasive treatment such as central lines due to loss of peripheral IV integrity
About Linear Health Sciences
Founded by a physician and two engineers, Linear Health Sciences is the developer of the Orchid Safety Release Valve and other safety technology solutions for medical tubing. Those solutions are designed to improve the healthcare experience for patients, caregivers and healthcare institutions. The estimated market for the company’s technology is $1 billion annually. Linear Health is currently pursuing FDA clearance for the Orchid Safety Release Valve. For more information, access www.linearsciences.com.