Medical Main Street INNO-VENTION SOLD OUT - Live Streaming is still available

Oakland County, Michigan sent this bulletin at 10/02/2012 03:17 PM EDT

Conference Sold Out | FREE Live Streaming of Conference Available Through PBS/DPTV

Click here to register for FREE Live Streaming of INNO-VENTION 2012 Conference

Medical Main Street Names Two Medical Device Companies

“Innovators of the Year”

One company created a device to alert doctors when nerves are at risk of injury during surgery and the other company whose technology treats hypertension were chosen as Medical Main Street “Innovators of the Year.”

The companies, Sentio LLC of Southfield, Mich., and Ablative Solutions Inc, of Kalamazoo, Mich., will be honored on Oct. 4 during the INNO-VENTION 2012 medical device conference at the Royal Park Hotel. Irene Spanos, director of economic development and community affairs for Oakland County, will present the companies their awards during the luncheon.

“These two companies are creating the types of medical devices that save peoples’ lives,” Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson said. “I can’t think of two companies more deserving of this inaugural Innovator of the Year award. The technology they employ fits perfectly on Medical Main Street.”

The SentioMMG is a neuro-diagnostic device that monitors and tests nerve function, alerting surgeons when nerves are dangerously close and at risk during surgery. It is currently used on spine and orthopedic surgery and also has applications under development for brain tumors, facial surgery and pain management. It is derived from sensor technology used in the deployment of airbags in cars.

Locating and mapping nerves means lower risk of complications in traditional surgery and enables minimally invasive surgery that otherwise would not be possible. The result is less pain, smaller incisions and faster recovery, the company said. Dr. Stephen Bartol, an orthopedic spine surgeon at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, is Sentio’s CEO.

The Ablative Solutions device, the PVRD™ (perivascular renal denervation) Catheter, uses the catheter to damage and “denervate” nerve fibers that pass from the brain to the kidney. The damaged nerves send fewer signals to sick patients, which lowers blood pressure substantially and treats hypertension. The entire procedure is expected to take10-15 minutes and is less painful for patients. The basic proof-of-principle was completed using a prototype device in pre-clinical testing. First-in-man trials are expected to begin in 2013.

Ablative Solutions was founded in 2011 by Dr. Tim A. Fischell and David R. Fischell, Ph.D. Tim Fischell is a professor of medicine at Michigan State University, the inventor of more than 60 patented medical devices and the company CEO.

INNO-VENTION 2012 runs Wednesday through Friday (Oct. 3-5) at the Royal Park Hotel. The conference showcases the life science and health care industries in Southeast Michigan. It focuses on the next generation of medical devices in oncology, cardiology and orthopedics and is of interest to manufacturers, suppliers and clinicians looking to invest.

The conference is being live streamed by Detroit Public Television. Registration for the live stream is available at www.MedicalMainStreet.org.

About Oakland County, Michigan's Medical Main Street

County Executive L. Brooks Patterson created Medical Main Street in 2008 to focus on growing the life science industry in Oakland County and Southeast Michigan. Since the launch, Medical Main Street companies have generated investment of more than $220 million and created or retained more than 2,900 jobs.

The county's burgeoning life science industry includes 100,000 health care and life science jobs - more than the number of jobs at the Cleveland Clinic and Mayo Clinics combined. There are nearly 4,900 active clinical trials throughout Oakland County and the state – more than California, Florida, Texas or New Jersey.

In addition to company attraction, Medical Main Street helps entrepreneurs commercialize their life sciences technologies, assists local life sciences companies grow their markets globally, trains the work force for this industry, and works with state government to ensure Michigan is legislatively a top state for life sciences companies.

Oakland County, Michigan's Medical Main Street is a unique alliance of world-class hospitals, universities, medical device, biopharma companies and some of the country's top medical professionals creating a global center of innovation in health care, research and development, education and commercialization in the life sciences industry.

A board of industry leaders provides advice and support to this initiative, including: Beaumont Health System, Beckman Coulter Molecular Diagnostics, Crittenton Hospital, Ferndale Laboratories, Henry Ford Health System, Housey Pharmaceuticals, Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, McLaren Health Care, MichBio, Oakland Community College, Oakland University, Oxus Inc., Rockwell Medical Technologies, St. John Providence Health System, St. Joseph Mercy Oakland and Representative Gail Haines (R-Waterford).

Visit www.MedicalMainStreet.org to get involved in the medical solutions of the future.

Medical Main Street INNO-VENTION Conference Sponsors:

Update your subscriptions, modify your password or e-mail address, or stop subscriptions at any time on your Subscriber Preferences Page. You will need to use your e-mail address to log in. If you have questions or problems with the subscription service, please contact support@govdelivery.com. All other inquiries may be directed to webmaster@oakgov.com.

This service is provided to you at no charge by Oakland County, Michigan.