Start-up scoops MedTech Idol win

AventaMed has won the MedTech Idol competition, Dublin, at the Invest in Innovation (IN3) Medical Device 360° conference.

Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) researchers Olive O’Driscoll and John Vaughan, co-founders of CIT start-up AventaMed, won the national innovation award for their V-Tube device — a surgical instrument for inserting grommets, one of the most common childhood procedures, with around one in 15 children undergoing the procedure before the age of seven.

The conference included the MedTech Idol competition which gave four selected companies the opportunity to pitch their business plans and products to a panel of Medtech investors. As winners, AventaMed will present at the IN3 Medical Device 360° summit from November 5-7 in San Francisco.

An Irish manufacturer is lined up and the product is set to undergo clinical trials shortly.  

“It is a single-use, hand- held device which comes pre-loaded with a grommet. It makes fitting grommets as simple as piercing an ear,” O’Driscoll said.

Surgeons can now fit a grommet quickly and safely in the comfort of their office in minutes without the need for a general anaesthetic.

Vaughan said their invention could help cut waiting lists and reduce the procedure cost by more than 50%. It is estimated it could also help deliver annual savings of up to €400,000 for some busy Irish hospitals where grommets are fitted.