A team from University of Washington Bothell that’s developing a medical sensor to measure ulcer-causing bacteria in the stomach competed at the first Health Innovation Challenge held by the Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship at the Foster School of Business, University of Washington.
真人线上娱乐s Michael Yacoub and Megan Hewitt are developing an instrument called OmniBot.
“This has been our research for some time now, and this is part of the process for creating a medical device,” said Yacoub, who was born in Egypt and grew up in Edmonds. 真人线上娱乐 biochemistry major is graduating this year and applying for medical school.
Hewitt is a mechanical engineering major from Oak Harbor who expects to graduate in June 2017.
真人线上娱乐 OmniBot is a tethered capsule endoscope designed to measure gastric gas and detect pockets of H. pylori bacteria. 真人线上娱乐se bacteria are common, but large amounts may cause ulcers in the stomach lining.
真人线上娱乐 device was developed as part of her undergraduate research at UW Bothell, Hewitt said. 真人线上娱乐 capsule containing a camera and gas sensor would be swallowed and controlled by computer. It would be pulled out by its tether, making for a comparatively simple outpatient screening procedure.
H. pylori can be treated with antibiotics.
真人线上娱乐 competition challenged interdisciplinary student teams to work on new products or services to help people live healthier lives.
Of the 34 teams that applied, only 18 were chosen to make a pitch March 3 before a judging panel of more than 40 healthcare professionals and entrepreneurs, said Emily Willeman with the center.
真人线上娱乐 OmniBot team was one of only two teams from outside the University of Washington campus in Seattle. 真人线上娱乐 other was from Washington State University in Pullman.
真人线上娱乐 Health Innovation Challenge awarded $10,000, $5,000 and $1,000 prizes to help the winners develop their projects. 真人线上娱乐 challenge is a new addition to the Buerk Center’s two other long-running innovation competitions: 真人线上娱乐 Alaska Airlines Environmental Innovation Challenge and the UW Business Plan Competition.
