Every year the Spencer S. Eccles Eccles Health Sciences Library and the J. Willard Marriott Library combine forces and participate in the U’s Bench 2 Bedside (B2B) program, a major competition for students who have developed medical innovations to significantly improve, or save, human lives.

Brilliant Innovations Improving Health Care

Over the course of seven months, student teams form startup companies to identify needed medical products and interventions; they then design solutions. Each team has access to health care providers from a broad range of specialties, as well as engineering and business professionals from the Salt Lake community. Opinion leaders and stakeholders are also involved in the development. In that seven-month time period, students will have defined the clinical problem, evaluated the patent landscape, determined a regulatory course, created a prototype and developed a market strategy for commercialization.

In April students present their team projects at the annual B2B competition held in the Utah State Capitol. Projects are presented by team members, then evaluated and scored by a VIP panel of judges. Top teams are awarded milestone funding to support further project development.

And the Winner Is!

This year, the library team selected AdhesioNix as the winning team. AdhesioNix has developed a novel syringe accessory to prevent adhesions that may occur in mothers during a caesarian-section surgery.

The team’s description from the B2B announcement: “Addressing critical needs in post-C-section care, our innovative solution combats the effects of adhesions, a common complication impacting patient recovery. Featuring a novel tip for syringes, our device creates a consistent barrier between cut tissues, minimizing adhesion risks and ensuring optimal healing. With a simple yet impactful design, our solution sets a new standard in surgical aftercare, enhancing patient outcomes.”

The winning team of AdhesioNix included three students from the University of Utah; the team was Amanda LeMatty (M.S. student, Department of Biomedical Engineering), Robert Falconer (Ph.D. student, Department of Biomedical Engineering), and Jake Bell (First-year medical student, University of Utah School of Medicine). The $5,000 Library Award was given to AdhesioNix by the libraries for demonstrating that they utilized library resources, services and assistance, and because they effectively applied the knowledge and information received into their project.

Congratulations to all of the 2024 B2B winners!