Vivid Vision, MediView XR and Augment Therapy Take Top Honors in the Medical Capital Innovation Competition
BioEnterprise is pleased to announce the winners of the Third Annual Medical Capital Innovation Competition (MCIC), awarded yesterday at the Global Center for Health Innovation. These winning companies were chosen from a field of 21 U.S. and Canadian competitors creating augmented and virtual reality healthcare technologies.
The winners in the professional division are:
First Place ($50,000): Vivid Vision (San Francisco, Calif.): Founded by a programmer looking for a new kind of treatment for his amblyopia (lazy eye), Vivid Vision uses virtual reality to train amblyopia sufferers’ weaker eye to improve binocular vision. The company was represented at MCIC by its director of optometry, Brian Dornbos, who described the technology as bringing innovation to a treatment that hasn’t changed for many years, usually requiring use of an eye patch. Dornbos said that Vivid Vision’s technology is now available in 280 vision clinics across four continents.
(San Francisco, Calif.): Founded by a programmer looking for a new kind of treatment for his amblyopia (lazy eye), Vivid Vision uses virtual reality to train amblyopia sufferers’ weaker eye to improve binocular vision. The company was represented at MCIC by its director of optometry, Brian Dornbos, who described the technology as bringing innovation to a treatment that hasn’t changed for many years, usually requiring use of an eye patch. Dornbos said that Vivid Vision’s technology is now available in 280 vision clinics across four continents.
Second Place ($25,000): MediView XR (Toledo, Ohio): Founder John Black is a physiologist who has worked extensively in medical device design and sales, and has developed what the company calls Real-Time, Fused-Holographic Visualization (RTFHV). The technology will allow a healthcare provider to see inside a patient using a 3D hologram instead of a conventional 2D display screen. The company’s initial focus is on cancer care. MCIC judge Neda Amidi of Plug and Play also chose to match MediView XR’s prize with an additional $25,000.
Third Place ($15,000): Augment Therapy (Chagrin Falls, Ohio): Augment Therapy was founded by Lindsay Watson, a physical therapist who specializes in pediatrics. Her technology uses augmented reality to improve kids’ adherence to physical therapy through interactive play-based exercises, while also collecting data that physicians and physical therapists can use to measure kids’ progress toward healing.
The winners in the collegiate division are:
First Place ($6,000): Virtual Reality Pediatric Mock MRI (University of Southern California): This virtual exposure therapy tool prepares children for an MRI, using a virtual reality headset to recreate the MRI experience.
Second Place ($3,000): SurgeonMR (Johns Hopkins University): SurgeonMR is creating a mixed-reality technology to help in training and practice of surgical techniques.
In addition to cash prizes, selected teams were extended collaboration offers from healthcare institutions. The first-place winners in both divisions will also have the opportunity to exhibit their technologies at the HIMSS20 Conference in March 2020.
The 21 finalists were chosen from a field of 79 applicant teams from 19 states and 16 countries. For a full list of finalists and judges, visit mcic.bioenterprise.com.
BioEnterprise receives support for the Medical Capital Innovation Competition from Cuyahoga County, JumpStart, HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society) and the Global Center for Health Innovation. Healthcare partners include Cleveland Clinic Innovations, University Hospitals, The MetroHealth System and ProMedica. Supporting sponsors include Case Western Reserve University and Develoco.
ABOUT BIOENTERPRISE
BioEnterprise is a business formation, recruitment, and acceleration effort designed to grow the Northeast Ohio healthcare industry. Located in Cleveland, at the Global Center for Health Innovation and in University Circle, BioEnterprise provides management counsel and support services to health IT, medical device, and biopharmaceutical companies. In addition, BioEnterprise convenes and leads strategy for industry-building initiatives such as the Medical Capital Innovation Competition, HIT in the CLE and the Global Center for Health Innovation. BioEnterprise partners are Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland Clinic, The MetroHealth System and University Hospitals. Additional technology partners include the NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland State University and BioOhio. Since 2002, BioEnterprise and its partners have created, recruited and accelerated more than 350 health IT, medical device, and biopharmaceutical companies, and have helped these companies raise more than $3 billion in new funding. To learn more: www.BioEnterprise.com.
