The Patient Innovation Awards 2015
The Patient Innovation (PI) paid tribute to patients,
caregivers and collaborators whose innovations have been
diffused on the PI platform, by organizing an award
ceremony, held on July 13, at Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian,
in Lisboa.
Carlos Moedas, European Commissioner for Research, Science
and Innovation (his speech can watched here and read here), Prof. Eric von Hippel, from
MIT (watch his presentation here), and the six award winners,
from Canada, EUA, Israel, United Kingdom and Portugal were
the keynote speakers. The Patient Innovation Awards had more
than 200 innovations in competition, and received the High
Patronage of His Excellency The President of the Portuguese
Republic.
The awards ceremony featured a full auditorium, and had a
great feedback from the audience, keynote speakers and
winners, as well as a strong presence in the media.
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Speech of Carlos Moedas, European Commissioner for Research,
Science and Innovation
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Francisco Veloso, Dean of the Catholic Lisbon, opened the
ceremony and said these awards show "the role of users,
which when applied to health shows the enormous strength and
the huge impact they can have. The Patient Innovation
platform enables innovations to spread very fast and
multiply their impact by millions of people." Watch his
speech here.
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Francisco Veloso, Dean of Catholic Lisbon, with Prof. Eric
Von Hippel, MIT
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The awards were given in three categories: Patient,
Caregiver and Collaborator. The list of winners by this
criterion figures as follows:
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Louis Plante, from Canada
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Disease: Cystic Fybrosis
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Category:Patient
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Innovation: The
Frequencer™
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Louis Plante suffers from Cystic Fibrosis,
which has consequence the increasing risk of
pulmonary infection, resulting from changes
in secretions of mucus-producing glands.
Louis used to spend four hours a day in
kinesiotherapy (alternate beats in the chest
and back) to reduce the problem, until that,
during a concert, Louis noticed that the
vibration produced by the speakers had a
positive effect. Based on his experience in
electronics, Louis developed the
Frequencer™, a device that produces sound
waves, which helps cleaning the lungs, by
creating low energy resonant vibrations
(acoustics), reducing mucus viscosity, which
allows the mucus flow increasing in patients
with Cystic Fibrosis. Watch this video here.
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Video Message of Louis Plante
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Lisa Crites, from USA
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Condition: Mastectomy
caused by breast cancer
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Category: Patient
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Innovation: The Shower
Shirt ™
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Lisa Crites was diagnosed with breast
cancer. After having a mastectomy, she was
told not to wet the suture area, in order to
avoid infection in the drains of insertion
sites. This made showering difficult. That’s
when Lisa created a water proof shirt, The
Shower Shirt™, helping other patients
dealing with the same problem to shower
normally, living with this condition with
dignity. The Shower Shirt™ was already
approved by the FDA, and is now available in
36 countries. Watch her presentation and
speech here.
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Speech of Lisa Crites
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Tal Golesworthy, from UK
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Disease: Marfan Syndrome
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Category: Patient
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Innovation: Exovasc ®
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Tal Golesworthy, suffering from Marfan
Syndrome, needed a cardiac surgery, and
would be treated with anticoagulants for the
rest of his life. He used his professional
experience in engineering and his plumbing
knowledge to design, along with his doctor,
an external support for the aorta root -
Personalized External Aortic Root Support
(PEARS). Since this support was put in his
heart, ten years ago, the same technic has
been used in 56 patients to prevent the
aorta rupture. Watch his presentation here.
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Speech of Tal Golesworthy
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Debby Elnatan, from Israel
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Disease: Cerebral Palsy
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Category: Caregiver
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Innovation: Upsee ™
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Debby’s youngest son was born with cerebral
palsy. Despite of not being able to move or
participate in the family walks, Debby
didn’t give up. She tried several ways to
“connect” her son to herself, which led to
Upsee™. With the Upsee™, her son is able to
“walk” as any other child, and can now
participate in the family activities. Upsee™
helps children in similar conditions to
“walk” and participate in social events.
Watch her presentation and video here.
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Speech of Debby Elnatan
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Joaquina Teixeira, from Portugal
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Disease: Angelman
Syndrome
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Category: Caregiver
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Innovation: Helium
Balloons
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Joaquina’s son, Gonçalo, suffers from
Angelman Syndrome, a disease characterized
by developmental delay, inability to speak,
convulsions and psychomotor problems.
Despite of being six and able to walk,
Gonçalo refused to stand up. One day, at a
party, Joaquina noticed that the helium
ballons on the ceiling were getting
Gonçalo’s attention, making him to try to
grab the balloons, and by doing so, he was
standing up. On that very day, Joaquina put
helium balloons all over her house and
watched her son jump and walk, trying to
grab the balloons. Watch her video and
presentation here (available only
in Portuguese).
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Speech of Joaquina Teixeira
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Ivan Owen, from USA
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Disease: Amputees
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Category: Collaborator
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Innovation: 3D printed
prosthetic hand
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Ivan Owen, an artist who makes entertainment
products, posted on Youtube a video with
"mechanical hands". A southern African
carpenter, who lost some fingers while
working in his shop, contacted him and asked
if Ivan could help him designing and make a
low cost prosthetic hand. Ivan accepted the
challenge and started making low cost
prosthetic hands for children. Later on, he
shared his digital files to make these hands
in 3D printers. His work has inspired a big
and growing number of volunteers and makers
that are now trying to make a difference
(e.g. e-NABLE). Watch his video and
presentation here.
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Speech of Ivan Owen
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Nuno – The seven-year-old boy who got a 3D printing hand
and arm
Nuno is a seven-year-old boy who received a 3D printing hand
and arm produced by Ivan Owen and Salomé Azevedo, from the
Patient Innovation team, on July 14.
After the Patient Innovation platform was launched, Carla,
Nuno’s mother, contacted the team to see if they could make
a hand and arm for her son, based on 3D printing hand models
created by Ivan Owen. Salomé analyzed the case, talked with
Ivan Owen, and then realized that there were models
currently developed by the Enable Community that they could
be easily adapted to Nuno.
Nuno and his family were very excited to finally meet all
the people who were willing to “give him a hand”, and make
this boy’s life more colorful. So on July 10, this little
fellow and his family came to Católica Lisbon to meet Ivan.
The team took Nuno’s measures and evaluated his strength.
Thanks to Paulo from Media Markt, all the pieces were
printed on time, and the team was able to assemble all the
parts in one morning. The little guy actually helped a lot
by sewing some pieces of his new red and white gadget.
The hand and arm were fully ready and working on the next
day, July 14, when it was finally given to its fun new
owner.
The Patient Innovation team made a heartwarming video that
features both the making of a 3D printed arm and hand, and
also Nuno experiencing his new gadget for the first time.
Watch it here.
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Ivan Owen, Nuno and Salomé Azevedo
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Nuno's 3D Printed Arm
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Nuno trying out his 3D printed arm
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The PI team organized this event to acknowledge patients,
caregivers and collaborators’ innovations, and to inspire
and stimulate more people to share their solutions with
others on the PI platform.
Artur Santos Silva, president of Fundação Calouste
Gulbekian, closed the ceremony with an inspiring speech
(watch it here).
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Speech of Artur Santos Silva, President of Fundação Calouste
Gulbenkian
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The awards ceremony was sponsored by Fundação Para a Ciência
e Tecnologia, Carnegie Mellon University Portugal Program,
Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Janssen, Lilly, MSD, Pfizer,
Bayer, Apifarma, and RTP.
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Prizes of 1st Patient Innovation Awards
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Patient Innovation Awards "Family"
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In the media
The PI Awards were broadcast live, via the FC Gulbenkian
streaming link, and also had a strong presence in media.
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