Sterile Technology Building a case: Medical student creates sterile phone case for the operating room Robert Zondervan, OMS IV, combines medical knowledge with business acumen to take his idea from vision to reality. Oct. 6, 2016Thursday Kate Samano Contact Kate Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Topics iPhoneosteopathic medical educationstart-upsterilesurgery Two years ago, a surgeon asked Robert Zondervan, OMS IV, to record a surgical procedure he was observing. After struggling to obtain a camera angle that allowed full view of the operative field, Zondervan decided to take matters into his own hands. “I kept thinking how much easier it would be if there was a safe way to use a smartphone camera in the operating room,” says Zondervan, who attends the Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine (MSUCOM) in East Lansing. “It would open so many doors for education and knowledge-sharing.” Over the next year, he worked with MSU’s Spartan Innovations, a startup incubator that helps support entrepreneurs, to develop the CleanCase, a clear, disposable phone case that can be used in the operating room. Robert Zondervan, OMS IV The phone case is the first product to be distributed by Zondervan’s SteriDev medical startup, which he established in 2015. “The best person to develop a solution is often the one who’s having the problem,” he says. Entrepreneurial education Zondervan is in a unique position to document and study the challenges he observes in the operating room–he’s completing coursework toward a DO degree and a PhD in physiology, with plans to become an orthopedic surgeon. Interested in learning the basics of business involved with managing a medical practice, Zondervan took an Introduction to Entrepreneurship course at MSU, which led to development of his business model for SteriDev. “When I told my colleagues about my idea for CleanCase, they told me to run with it,” he says. Zondervan was able to develop, design and manufacture the CleanCase through funding from Spartan Innovations; The Lansing Economic Area Partnership (LEAP), an economic development corporation; and Quantum Medical Concepts, the investment arm of the Michigan State Medical Society. The product will be piloted in Michigan hospitals by the spring of 2017. A model of SteriDev's CleanCase. Limitless opportunities CleanCase will enable surgeons to interact and share knowledge in real time, according to Zondervan. “The case preserves all the functionality of a mobile device,” he says. “You can reference X-rays, view medical records and access CT scans, all within the sterile operating field.” More patients are requesting documentation of their surgeries than ever before, Zondervan adds. “As osteopathic physicians, we strive to provide hands-on, comprehensive care,” he says. “This is one more way we can meet our patients’ needs.” SteriDev’s current CleanCase model is designed for iPhone 6. To learn more, visit the SteriDev website or follow Zondervan on Twitter. More in Patient Care How sports-related concussions affect mental health Clinicians will anxiously be awaiting a new set of suggested diagnostic and treatment guidelines that most likely will need to be implemented before the next NFL season. Working as a camp doctor during my pediatrics residency Patricia Hoffman, DO, recounts her time serving as a camp doctor during her pediatrics residency, and how the opportunity provided learning experiences and affirmations. Previous articleAdvocacy in action: 2 more wins for the profession Next articleFlint, Michigan, residents now dealing with lead crisis and intestinal disease
How sports-related concussions affect mental health Clinicians will anxiously be awaiting a new set of suggested diagnostic and treatment guidelines that most likely will need to be implemented before the next NFL season.
Working as a camp doctor during my pediatrics residency Patricia Hoffman, DO, recounts her time serving as a camp doctor during her pediatrics residency, and how the opportunity provided learning experiences and affirmations.
I’m very impressed! not only with your innovation of this phone case but that you balance your pursuit of 2 degrees with carrying your invention idea out through to product. Oct. 25, 2016, at 11:30 am Reply