Dr. Klein finds the work fun, challenging, and an outlet for creativity, and he does it, he said, because he loves it. It also feels to him like a responsibility to be involved with medical device innovation.
Explore This Issue
May 2023“We’re the ones with the clinical insight,” he said. “We know what the unmet clinical needs are and how a device may or may not be useful in our own hands.” Being a medical consultant is another way to get involved with medical device innovation, with a lot less work, he added.
For otolaryngologists working in academia who are interested in developing new technologies, Dr. Kozin suggested thinking critically about their patients and how to improve outcomes. “More specifically, we should consider how to improve the standard of care,” he said. “Just because something has been done the same way for decades doesn’t necessarily mean it cannot be improved upon. Oftentimes, we’ll identify specific clinical problems, and then innovation will flow from those ideas.”
Renée Bacher is a freelance medical writer based in Louisiana.
New Innovations Creating Buzz
Devices for treating allergic rhinitis and for drug delivery in the sinuses are generating a lot of interest now, according to Josh Makower, MD, MBA, director and cofounder of the Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign at Stanford University in California. “And there are great advances in hearing devices designed to be sold direct to the customer, like Eargo,” he said, “where I previously served on the board.”
Subinoy Das, MD, chief executive officer and medical director for the U.S. Institute for Advanced Sinus Care & Research, Columbus, Ohio, points to otolaryngologist and serial entrepreneur Donald Gonzales, MD, who founded Cryosa, Inc., as one of the top inventors and developers in the otolaryngology medical tech space. Cryosa develops cryotherapy for obstructive sleep apnea. Dr. Gonzales also developed LATERA, an absorbable nasal implant used to support the lateral nasal cartilage and address symptoms from nasal valve collapse.
Patent Searches
Wondering if someone is already attempting to create the invention you’ve been brewing? Although many product developers hire a patent attorney, you can do a search for patents that already exist at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) (www.uspto.gov). The USPTO suggests a six-step strategy to ensure that your idea hasn’t already been taken:
1. Make a list of words that describe your product or idea. For example, a cotton swab might also be called a cotton bud, ear bud, or ear stick.
2. Start with a broad search for your product or idea’s main concept, and then narrow the search results by adding additional features to the search. Review the front pages of patents and published patent applications and eliminate ones that are irrelevant.
3. Carefully review those patents and patent applications that are like your invention. Make a note of any drawings, specifications, and claims.
4. Use the Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) code search on the Classification Resources page (www.uspto.gov/web/patents/classification/) to search by any appropriate classification codes. (The CPC system was jointly developed by the European Patent Office and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.)
5. Review any cited references from the patents and patent applications you’ve found through your searches. (The Patent Public Search function can help search both backward and forward citations.)
6. Broaden your search with foreign patents (Espacenet (worldwide.espacenet.com) is the European Patent Office’s worldwide patent publication database) and nonpatent literature.