{"id":16526,"date":"2014-01-15T11:45:55","date_gmt":"2014-01-15T16:45:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sciencebusiness.technewslit.com\/?p=16526"},"modified":"2014-01-15T11:45:55","modified_gmt":"2014-01-15T16:45:55","slug":"south-carolina-partnership-licenses-first-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/technewslit.com\/sciencebusiness\/?p=16526","title":{"rendered":"South Carolina Partnership Licenses First Technology"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Illustration<\/a>
(Mikael H\u00e4ggstr\u00f6m\/Wikimedia Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

SCRA, a South Carolina state business investment organization in Columbia, and TAO Life Sciences, a medical device commercialization company in Greenville, say they completed their first licensing deal<\/a> for a chest drainage tube device invented by students at Clemson University. Financial aspects of the licensing agreement were not disclosed.<\/p>\n

Bioengineering students at Clemson University designed and created a device that helps place and stabilize chest drainage tubes<\/a>. Chest tubes are used to drain fluids that build up in the chest after surgery or due to bleeding or abscesses, often as a result of trauma. Draining the fluids helps prevent the lungs from collapsing.<\/p>\n

The insertion procedure for the tube, called a thoracostomy, is often difficult, and can cause complications. The device, called AssureFit<\/a>, holds the tube in place without adhesive and reduces the risk of the tube becoming dislodged, a leading cause of complications.<\/p>\n

The students, in Clemson’s Bioengineering Senior Design Program<\/a>, teamed with pediatric surgeons from Greenville Health System to develop the AssureFit device. The program is a year-long class where the students create solutions for unmet medical needs. As a result, both Clemson University and Greenville Health System own the intellectual property rights to the invention.<\/p>\n

SCRA, through its Technology Ventures<\/a> initiative, supports commercialization of new technologies in the state, and in November 2012 announced a plan with TAO Life Sciences<\/a> to select promising new medical technologies for licensing and commercial development.<\/p>\n

TAO Life Sciences licensed the drainage tube stabilization device for further development and commercialization. The company identifies promising medical devices and takes their development from proof-of-concept to demonstration stage, with the goal of generating financial returns with 18 months.<\/p>\n

The following video tells more about the AssureFit device.<\/p>\n