A conversation two years ago between Cincinnati physician Sambhu Choudhury and his cousin, an Iraqi veteran, sparked an idea for a medical device that could help save soldiers' limbs after traumatic bomb blasts.
"My cousin was an Army Ranger who did four tours in Iraq. After his last one, we were talking about him and his buddies and some of the things they went through. A lot of them are surviving blasts that would have killed them in the past, because of body armor. The armor covers their torso and organs, but not their limbs," Choudhury says.
From that conversation, the idea sprang for a sterile, stabilizing wound sleeve that would protect limbs during emergency transport. The idea got a boost in September as a winner of
Xavier University's XLAB (Xavier Launch-a-Business) first-ever business competition.
Choudhury was one of eight Greater Cincinnati innovators awarded an academic year's worth of business mentoring services designed to take ideas from concept to marketplace.
Choudhury is an orthopedist who developed the idea along with fellow Cincinnatians Sean Lynch, a certified physican's assistant and Arturo Sanchez, an engineer. Xavier is giving the developers something they lack: business acumen. They will get a business adviser, consulting services, access to Xavier workshops, mentors and networking events. They will also get help in developing a business plan and a meeting with potential investors for their new company Concepto.
"As a company we don't have a business background," Choudhury said. "Developing the technology is easy for us, and we have a good handle on it. But we need to work with people who can help us get into the market without breaking the bank."
Source: Sambhu Choudhury, Concepto founder
Writer: Feoshia Henderson