October 30, 2012|By Mary Clare Fischer, The Baltimore Sun
"It has the hallmarks of a successful medical device," wrote Thomas Rockwell Mackie, director of medical devices at the University of Wisconsin's Morgridge Institute for Research, in an e-mail. "It seems more effective, inexpensive and easier than hand-stitching. Before I could comment further, I would like to see it in the hands of a surgeon, but it seems very promising."
The team placed first at several contests, including University of Maryland College Park's business plan competition, the NIBIB DEBUT Challenge run by the National Institutes of Health, and the University of California Irvine Business Plan Competition, which awarded the team with lab space on the UC-Irvine campus for six months. And they won the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Innovation Showcase, held in Montreal, Canada.
Now, the FastStitch team is meeting with venture capitalists, asking for $2 million to fund testing and FDA approval for the tool. Though the approval process can take up to 10 years, if the FastStitch team can prove their device is similar enough to SuturTek's product, the wait could be reduced to one or two years.
Meanwhile, Zahid is applying to medical school. His first choice is his alma mater — he has no desire to leave his team behind.
"You always want to do something that's more than just what you learn in school; you want to apply what you learn to a greater cause," Zahid said. "When we first started, we only had $1,000 to work with, and it's really hard to believe that we're now talking with venture capitalists in the realm of $2 million. It's quite humbling."
