A Livestrong Foundation challenge launched earlier this year to confront some of the challenges that prevent cancer patients from getting the treatment they need has whittled down the competing companies from 750 to five. They each take a different approach to helping patients and get as sophisticated as using 3D printing technology to create breast tissue for breast reconstruction to organizing a social network for patients to depend on for emotional support.
LIVESTRONG Foundation CEO Doug Ulman said the finalists “demonstrated an intimate knowledge of the daily challenges faced due to a diagnosis. They all demonstrate creative, realistic and trailblazing solutions for people affected by cancer.”
They will pitch their services to seven expert judges in Austin next month. The grand prize is $25,000. Here’s a summary of each company. Check out their project pages to see their applications, supporting information and investor pitches.
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Adhere Tech developed a way to make patients better medication takers with a smart pill bottle currently at the pilot stage. It knows when pills have been taken. It can transmit reminders to patients to take their medicine and transmit dosing patterns to physicians. The pill bottle lights up and chimes to remind patients.
Decisive Health, a Blueprint Health company, developed a patient support tool that optimizes cancer patients’ lifestyle preferences with the best corresponding treatment option. It can be customized for each patient and shared with providers so individual patients receive optimal patient-centered care, according to the statement.
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Restwise An app produced by Restwise to guide athletes as they recover from injuries is being applied to cancer patients. The idea is to help cancer patients and survivors understand the importance of resting and managing fatigue to recover from treatment and put exercise programs to good use. The program began with a pilot at the LIVESTRONG at the YMCA program in Boise, Idaho.
TeVido BioDevices uses 3D printing technology to create real-life breast tissue to be used in breast reconstruction surgeries following mastectomies. The Austin-based company uses a patient’s own cells to recreate the tissue. The company’s CTO and co-founder, Thomas Boland, invented the technology. He is also the Director of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Texas at El Paso.Here’s how it works, as MedCity News reported last year: The printer is similar to an inkjet many students use to print school papers, but modified to shoot out proteins instead of ink. The protein mixture is a composite of gelatin and alginate and it is printed onto specialized gel. An aluminum plate added to the printer’s paper feeding sensor and two switches along the y-axis of the machine help to evenly distribute the gelatin into the form. Its first product focuses on filling a small tumor void.
unCancer India set up a network to connect cancer patients and survivors to information on cancer diagnoses and treatment, emotional support.
