The Innovation Institute Launches Project Breathe to Build Community Dedicated to Tracheostomy Tube Redesign
Today, The Innovation Institute announced its support of Project Breathe, an initiative dedicated to the redesign and improvement of the tracheostomy tube.
“Thousands of people are dependent on tracheostomy tubes, sharing common challenges and work-arounds. So, we set out to comprehensively re-design the tracheostomy tube with the collective input of trach users, their families, a world-class team of designers, engineers, physicians, and scientists and a leading tracheostomy tube manufacturer,” said Larry Stofko, executive vice president of the Innovation Lab, a subsidiary of The Innovation Institute. Some team members come from UCLA, Caltech, St. Joseph Health System, Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System, and Children’s Hospital of Orange County.
“A few months ago, we began our research by conducting interviews with trach users and their families to learn about their challenges with trachs,” said Marc Habib, executive director, Operations and Development of the Innovation Lab.“Now, through the launch of Project Breathe, we are asking trach users and their family members to Join a Mission and share their trach experience with a broader community,” said Habib. Small rewards will be paid for their input.
“The tracheostomy space has seen little innovation for many years. Our hope is to understand the needs of users and families and use this information to design a revolutionary trach that wil positively impact the lives of children, seniors and everyone in between,” said Dr. Sunil Kamath, specialist in Pediatric Pulmonology, Children’s Hospital of Orange Country.
If you have questions about how to participate, please reach out to Project Breathe at contact@joinprojectbreathe.org.
About Project Breathe
Funded by The Innovation Institute, Project Breathe’s mission is to redesign the tracheostomy tube to improve its look, feel, and functionality. Through its team of world-class designers, engineers, physicians, and scientists, Project Breathe is pursuing answers from patients, their family members, and providers about the functional and aesthetic needs of those who use tracheostomy tubes. For more information, visit http://joinprojectbreathe.org.
About Innovation Institute
The Innovation Institute is an independent, for-profit LLC structured to cultivate innovative solutions to transform healthcare delivery. The Innovation Institute is owned by non-profit health systems. This collaborative taps into physicians, employees, and industry business partners to incubate and commercialize new medical products and ideas. Comprised of three distinct elements – an innovation lab, an investment fund, and a shared services group (Enterprise Development Group), The Institute strives to “do more, with less, for more people.” For more information, visit lab.ii4change.com.
