Discovery Critical Care Innovation Incubator
From left to right: Kelley Elahi MSE, BSN, RN, CPN (Co-Chair), Patient Safety award winners, Sara Lee, MD, MEng, and Megan Chiu, MD, Greg Martin, MD, MsC, FCCM (Co-Chair), and An-Kwok Ian Wong, MD, PhD (Co-Chair) (photo provided by the Society of Critical Care Medicine)
The 2025 Discovery Critical Care Innovation Incubator, hosted by the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM), brought together a vibrant community of clinicians, researchers, entrepreneurs, industry leaders, investors, program officers, and funders to advance impactful solutions in critical care medicine. The 12-hour event was held at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando on February 22 during SCCM’s annual Critical Care Congress and served as a high-energy launchpad for ideas that could transform how critical care is delivered. This multidisciplinary gathering focused on bold, practical solutions in medical technology, pharmaceuticals, big data, and AI. Participants benefited from expert feedback and resources, as well as opportunities to form new partnerships and gain visibility in the critical care innovation space.
Tamara Al-Hakim, the event’s organizer, said SCCM was “proud to partner with the Patient Safety Technology Challenge to highlight innovative ideas and promote patient safety within the healthcare community.” Given SCCM’s mission is to improve care for critically ill patients, Al-Hakim said their partnership with the Patient Safety Technology Challenge “allows our innovators to focus on what truly matters.”
Megan Chiu, a Surgical Innovations Research Fellow at Boston Children’s Hospital and a General Surgery Resident at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, along with Sara Lee, a Research Fellow and Surgical Resident at Boston Children’s Hospital, represented their team at the Discovery Critical Care Innovation Incubator. Their team won a $2,000 cash prize sponsored by the Patient Safety Technology Challenge for their innovation, an inflatable patient proning and positioning device.
The device allows for safe, efficient proning and repositioning of critically ill patients. It has two interlocking sheets that zip together to create a semi-rigid cylinder around the patient and an inner low-pressure bladder lining for secure and centered positioning of a patient. Additionally, the outer fabric is ultra-low-friction, designed to ease rolling on hospital beds and the high-friction Velcro on the inside is for anchoring medical lines and preventing their dislodgement. Ergonomic handles provide caregiver control, while a semi-automated inflation unit has modes for proning, positioning, and transfer.
This system offers a solution for the difficult and time-consuming task of prone positioning, particularly for patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and pressure ulcer prevention—two challenges that affect critically ill patients and ICU workflow. Prone positioning of critically ill patients, especially for patients with ARDS, improves oxygenation and reduces mortality. However, the process is physically taxing and high-risk for both patients and healthcare providers. Current manual methods require multiple staff members and involve complex maneuvers, coordination and skill. In addition to the stress that comes with prone positioning, the sudden force involved can lead to physical injuries for patients and staff. Moreover, pressure injuries—which affect over 2.5 million patients annually in the U.S.—are both costly and deadly. This inflatable system allows for routine patient repositioning and was designed with the aim of reducing the incidence and severity of these injuries.
Despite several barriers on the path to commercialization, the team is committed to tackling these challenges. For instance, to overcome the barrier of adoption of the device in clinical environments, the team says training programs, simulation tools, collaboration with marketing consultants and existing distributors within the critical care space, and competitive pricing models will position the device as a simple, cost-effective alternative to current solutions.
This innovation holds the promise of improving outcomes for patients, reducing provider injuries, and changing ICU culture around prone positioning.
