Trice Medical won the medical device category as part of this year’s Best of INVESTawards.
When someone has a knee or shoulder injury, for example, it can be challenging to determine what the injury actually entails and how to treat it without multiple doctor visits and an expensive MRI, which can have up to a 20 percent chance of false reads and takes significant time for a patient to get an actual diagnosis.
Trice Medical has created an innovative device, mi-eye™, that in majority of cases eliminates the need for an MRI and for multiple doctor visits. In fact, it can provide a 98 percent accurate diagnosis within just minutes, and it is significantly less expensive compared to current standard care (available for $400-$450).
mi-eye is a disposable optical needle with fully integrated camera that allows an
orthopedic doctor to immediately diagnose patient joint injuries in office after viewing the images on a handheld tablet. Not only is this useful for diagnosis, but because the needle also has a fully integrated lumen, the physician may also provide pain medication to the area using the same device.
In an interview, Trice CFO Craig Carra mentioned that one of the things he took away from attending MedCity’s INVEST conference was the current focus on understanding patients as consumers, which is very relevant to the mi-eye technology.
Whether it be Uber or Amazon Prime, people want immediacy and convenience as consumers, and the mi-eye technology is a perfect example of that becoming more present in healthcare. You’re in – you’re out – and satisfaction and results are actually even more accurate and efficient.
The FDA has approved this device to be used in anywhere in the body, technically, but for business model and credibility purposes, Trice has focused on knee and shoulder injuries for the time being. Although, Trice CEO and President Jeff O’Donnell expressed that he does see the use of mi-eye expanding in the future.
A large market for mi-eye will be treatment for athletes, partially because of its compact, portable design. This device could be used on-site to determine the degree of an injury, and in general those who are very active want to have a diagnosis quickly to get back to their activities instead of taking the sometimes weeks of time meeting with doctors and waiting for MRI results…
