A Youngstown-based startup medical device company is changing the way critically ill patients are cared for � and tossing out the notion of a painfully difficult startup process � one innovative feeding tube at a time.
The entire process of starting up Syncro Medical Innovations was made a whole lot easier because of the simple design of the BlueTube, the company's staple product, says Syncro CEO Gary Wakeford. Instead of relying solely on lots of X-rays to guide a feeding tube into the stomach, two powerful magnets do the job. And they do it a lot faster.
One of the magnets is at the tip of the feeding tube, and the other is placed near the patient's belly button, and voil�. "We solve a real problem," Wakeford says. "It's very difficult to insert a feeding tube. We turn a difficult procedure with a low success rate, into an easy procedure with a very high success rate."
People are taking notice. Prestigious customers, including Johns Hopkins Medical Center in Baltimore and the Brooke Army Hospital in San Antonio, have placed orders. The Ohio Third Frontier recently OK'd $490,000 for Syncro through its Innovation Ohio Loan fund.
The BlueTube is currently manufactured in Germany, but plans are in the works to manufacture the product in Ohio by the end of 2010. "Depending on our success, our long-term goal is to do our manufacturing in-house, which could add 30 jobs within three to five years," Wakeford says, adding that there are currently four full-time, two part-time and one intern employed with the company.
"We've really been welcomed here," he adds, noting the company moved to the Buckeye State from Macon, Ga. "This is our headquarters and we plan on always having our base rooted in the Youngstown area."
Source: Gary Wakeford, Syncro
Writer: Colin McEwen