{"681493":{"#nid":"681493","#data":{"type":"news","title":"PatchPals Pitches Wound Care Evolution at ACC InVenture Prize ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA team of biomedical engineering students represented Georgia Tech at the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.accinventureprize.com\/teams#gt\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EACC InVenture Prize Competition\u003C\/a\u003E in South Bend, Indiana, pitching an invention that could improve wound care for chronic patients and efficiency in healthcare systems.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EVacuum-assisted closure (VAC) therapy is commonly used to treat the 6.5 million people affected by chronic wounds annually, but dressing changes can be frequent and time-consuming. PatchPals aims to cut the time it takes to treat each patient by up to 30% by automating a critical step of the process using artificial intelligence. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInitially developed by Aya Samadi and Deniz Onalir, BME 2024, for the pair\u0027s capstone design project in Spring 2024, PatchPals would allow nurses and technicians to take a photo of a wound, outline it, and upload it to the device, which begins cutting a precise piece of foam in 15 seconds. Typically, nurses must manually cut foam to fit each wound, which can be inexact.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe project began with the goal of creating a better bandage for everyday cuts and scrapes, but conversations with medical professionals led them to think more broadly. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Each time we share our device with professionals in the field, they all have the same reaction, saying, \u0027Finally.\u0027 It\u0027s validating and rewarding to know that we were able to identify a real problem in healthcare and provide a potential solution,\u0022 said Samadi, now a biomedical engineering graduate student. \u0022By eliminating the biggest bottleneck in the wound care process, we\u0027re not just saving nurses time, we\u0027re ensuring patients get the treatment they need, without the wait.\u0022 \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThrough demos at the Emory Wound \u0026amp; Hyperbaric Center and other medical facilities, the team has been able to refine its product and understand its potential place in the wound care market.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022If the foam doesn\u0027t fit the wound perfectly, it can damage the margins or lead to infections. As a nurse, I\u0027d love to use this device in a clinical setting,\u201d said Meg Winata, a medical student at Emory University. \u201cAutomating that process eliminates a lot of the human error of wound VAC dressing changes, so this could be a game-changer.\u0022\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFollowing Onalir\u0027s graduation, Samadi recruited two new team members, Valeria Perez and Hayden Johnson, both master\u0027s students in biomedical engineering, to help develop the product. PatchPals is the subject of a clinical study at the Emory Wound \u0026amp; Hyperbaric Center, and the team intends to gather patient data by the semester\u0027s end. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs the device evolves, the team credits the Institute\u0027s resources for the ability to reach this milestone.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cGeorgia Tech has an amazing atmosphere around research and development and entrepreneurship. Without \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/coe.gatech.edu\/academics\/ai-for-engineering\/ai-makerspace\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ethe AI makerspace\u003C\/a\u003E or the BME design shop, we wouldn\u0027t be able to do any of the exploratory research into wound segmentation, automated cuttings, or create our prototypes,\u0022 Johnson said.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPerez added that the innovation begins in the classroom. \u0022The BME curriculum is one where there are so many different project-based courses built into it, so it has given us a foundation to work on this device.\u0022\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPatchPals was selected by the judges during the on-campus portion of the competition to represent the Institute at the ACC final, where the team received the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/inventureprize.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EPeople\u0027s Choice Award\u003C\/a\u003E \u2014 a $5,000 prize to continue the development of their invention \u2014\u0026nbsp;following an online and text vote concluding during Wednesday\u2019s televised final.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"The device, created by Georgia Tech students, uses AI to make chronic wound dressings 30% more efficient, which could save time and money.  "}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe device, created by Georgia Tech students, uses AI to make chronic wound dressings 30% more efficient, which could save time and money. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The device, created by Georgia Tech students, uses AI to make chronic wound dressings 30% more efficient, which could save time and money.  "}],"uid":"36418","created_gmt":"2025-04-01 15:45:35","changed_gmt":"2025-04-03 19:12:55","author":"sgagliano3","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-04-01T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2025-04-01T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"676731":{"id":"676731","type":"image","title":"PatchPals Meeting With Nurse","body":"\u003Cp\u003EAya Samadi (left), co-founder of PatchPals, and Valeria Perez (right) describe the device, which could improve wound care for chronic patients and efficiency in healthcare systems.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1743524230","gmt_created":"2025-04-01 16:17:10","changed":"1743524598","gmt_changed":"2025-04-01 16:23:18","alt":"PatchPals Team With Nurse","file":{"fid":"260556","name":"25-10010-P1-009.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/04\/01\/25-10010-P1-009.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/04\/01\/25-10010-P1-009.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":4037265,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/04\/01\/25-10010-P1-009.jpg?itok=TN-KUFiy"}},"676733":{"id":"676733","type":"image","title":"PatchPals Team New","body":"\u003Cp\u003EThe PatchPals team representing Georgia Tech at the ACC InVenture Prize Competition. From left: Valeria Perez, Hayden Johnson, Aya Samadi, and Deniz Onalir.\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1743536742","gmt_created":"2025-04-01 19:45:42","changed":"1743536742","gmt_changed":"2025-04-01 19:45:42","alt":"The PatchPals Team","file":{"fid":"260559","name":"Unknown.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/04\/01\/Unknown.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/04\/01\/Unknown.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":436120,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/04\/01\/Unknown.jpeg?itok=eptVYOxB"}}},"media_ids":["676731","676733"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/taplink.cc\/patchpalsinventure","title":"Vote for PatchPals!"}],"groups":[{"id":"1237","name":"College of Engineering"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"281961","name":"Office of Undergraduate Education \u0026 Student Success"},{"id":"1254","name":"Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"193158","name":"Student Competition Winners (academic, innovation, and research)"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1612","name":"BME"},{"id":"171868","name":"ACC InVenture Prize"},{"id":"1613","name":"Biomedical Engieering"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"193655","name":"Artificial Intelligence at Georgia Tech"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71891","name":"Health and Medicine"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:steven.gagliano@gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESteven Gagliano\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}