一位在商业和医疗保健领域有经验的校友 launched a medical device that keeps the safety of patients and 站在第一线的卫生保健工作者. 从原型到专利， 这个装置上有大峡谷的印记.

2016年，16岁的安德鲁·休尔曼(Andrew Heuerman)在Spectrum Health实习 Innovations (SHI) — a 团队 focused on identifying and solving problems in hospitals — when he was approached by a health care worker who was 担心他同事的安全. 团队五人 received back injuries within a short timeframe while attempting to 将病人从一个平面移动到另一个平面.

以这种方式移动患者被称为侧移. 什么 似乎一个简单的过程可能是困难和危险的. Nationally, more than 15,000 injuries to health care workers occur 每年从横向调动.

霍尔曼说，唯一存在的产品，以帮助转移 patients, such as ceiling lifts, were expensive, time-consuming, or 只解决了一半的问题. 卫生保健工作者经常被迫这样做 physically move patients themselves, which can take more than six Heuerman说这可能会造成伤害.

休尔曼同意一定有更好的办法. 然后他开始工作 找到一个.

弥合临床医生和工程师之间的差距

The world of health care product innovation was a natural fit for Heuerman，尽管他并不总是这么想.

“I didn’t realize you could make a career of developing innovative 医疗设备，而不是工程师，”他说.

Heuerman arrived at GVSU in 2012 with plans to be a premed student. The son of a dentist and yoga instructor (both were business owners), 他从小就对医疗保健很感兴趣. 在他大三的时候 year, a friend encouraged him to explore an entrepreneurship class.

Through one of his entrepreneurship classes, Heuerman was introduced to the SHI 团队 and started collaborating with them on projects. 那 led to an internship and, after graduating from Grand Valley with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology, a full-time position on the SHI 团队. 他所受的教育和天生的商业意识赋予了他独一无二的能力 能够跨越医疗保健和商业世界.

“My strength is bridging the gap between clinicians and engineers and 临床医生和商人，”休尔曼说.

开发原型

In 2016, Heuerman, as a liaison between Spectrum Health Innovations 把这个问题带给了约翰·法里斯和克里斯·彭， 工程学教授. 他们的学生被要求设计一个 prototype that would make lateral transfers safe, quick and cost-effective.

第一组工程专业的学生画了一幅草图 original concept; students in an advanced product design class developed an innovative way to attach the device to the hospital bed sheet.

The final device, SimPull, uses a metal bar that straps to the bed 病人身下被单. 一根电动皮带轻轻地拉着栏杆 床单，安全地将病人从一个表面滑到另一个表面. 与 SimPull, one health care worker can 安全 transfer a patient in 2 or 3分钟.

“Working with GVSU students is one of the favorite parts of my job. The freedom of thought and the ability to create something new always 让我吃惊，”休尔曼说.

SHI和GVSU为SimPull申请了联合专利. GVSU的四个学生 who designed the prototypes were named as the inventors on the patent: Dylan DiGiovanni, Michael Matusiak, Taylor Rieckhoff ’19, and Daniel Scheske ' 18(见侧边栏). 因为大学的 intellectual property policy, they will receive a share of any 给GVSU的收益. 法里斯说，大多数大学都没有 这样的政策.

成立病人公司

Two years after beginning the SimPull project, Heuerman decided to 离开史. 他获得了创业硕士学位 transactions from Central Michigan University and wanted to launch his 自己的公司将SimPull推向市场.

“Spectrum Health Innovations是我梦寐以求的工作. 离开是有风险的 and start my own business and it was a very tough decision to make,” 他说. 但SimPull是成千上万个想法中最好的一个. 我已经准备好全力以赴了.”

Spectrum相信休尔曼和他的愿景. 他们授权SimPull to his new startup, The Patient Company, and became its first investor.

Heuerman moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, where he participated in the 梅奥诊所的商业加速器项目. 梅奥诊所 加入The Patient Company，成为其最大的投资者之一.

SimPull is now in the final stages of testing to secure FDA approval. Heuerman expects that in 2023, it will become available in hospitals 全国范围内，从密歇根州的系统开始.

“While patients are central to everything we do, our north star is providing superior technology to support those who are taking care of 病人，”他说. “我们知道这是一条漫长的道路，也是一场艰苦的战斗. We are committed to doing it the right way, working alongside those who are on a longer road and harder fight every single 10- or 12-hour shift.”

接下来，病人公司正准备推出第二款产品 product: an attachment for SimPull that turns and rotates patients 180 度. 该设备已获得专利，并将于2020年上市 今年年底. 和SimPull一样，这款产品也是作为 这是Heuerman和GVSU工程系学生之间的合作.