Edison Nation Medical Seeks Product Innovations to Reduce the Incidence of Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs)

CHARLOTTE, N.C., July 15, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Edison Nation Medical, a healthcare innovation portal, today announced a worldwide search for medical device, app, and technology solutions aimed at reducing the incidence of Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections (CA-UTIs). Innovation ideas can include, but are not limited to prevention, alternatives to catheterization, early detection, and detecting remotely through monitoring.  Edison Nation Medical will carefully evaluate all ideas submitted and will work to license the most promising innovations, sharing resulting licensing royalties with the inventor(s) involved.

The Edison Nation Medical innovation search is open to the public. Submissions should be made to Edison Nation Medical's confidential and secure online portal at www.EdisonNationMedical.com/UTI now through Monday, September 8, 2014. 

Urinary catheters are a commonly used medical device that allows for continuous urine drainage in patients.  Urinary catheters are used in the acute care setting in both men and women.  It is estimated that 15%-25% of patients may have a urinary catheter inserted sometime during their hospital stay, with most used on a short-term basis.  Once a catheter is placed, the percentage of patients developing bacteriuria (bacterial infection) increases from 3-10% for those catheterized less than a day to 90% in long-term catheterization. 

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) associated with urinary catheters account for approximately 40% of all hospital-acquired infections in the United States.  Infections resulting from catheter-associated UTIs are generally more resistant to common antibiotics and can be harder to treat than other UTIs.  Complications from Catheter-Associated UTIs cause discomfort to the patient, prolonged hospital stay, increased cost and mortality.  More than 13,000 deaths annually are associated with UTIs.  Estimates of the  total cost in the United States ranges from $400-500 million annually.

Robert Grajewski, president of Edison Nation Medical, stated "Catheter-Associated UTIs are one of the biggest preventable acute-care sources of infection.  We believe great solutions are in the minds of people around the world and our goal is find those disruptive healthcare ideas to both improve patient safety and reduce costs." 

Joining Edison Nation Medical is free.  Ideas submitted to the organization's confidential and secure online portal cost only $25 to submit and are vetted through an in-depth review process led by a team of medical, product development and legal experts. The end goal is to commercialize each qualified product idea and, when Edison Nation Medical is successful, licensing royalties are shared with the submitting inventor(s).

Inventors are encouraged to submit everything from a back-of-the-envelope sketch to patented and prototype ideas to currently commercialized products looking to scale.

For more information and to submit an idea, go to www.EdisonNationMedical.com/UTI. 

About Edison Nation Medical:

Edison Nation Medical is a healthcare innovation portal with deep expertise in open innovation, product development, and healthcare. Born out of collaboration with Carolinas HealthCare System (the second largest public health system in the United States), Edison Nation Medical's mission is to break down the barriers to healthcare innovation. We make this a reality by providing a clear and easy pathway through our open innovation platform for anyone — physicians, nurses, entrepreneurs, even patients and caregivers — to submit a medical invention idea for full evaluation and potential commercialization.

Edison Nation Medical innovation headquarters is in Charlotte, NC with satellite offices in San Francisco and New York City. For more information, please visit www.EdisonNationMedical.com.

SOURCE Edison Nation Medical