As part of a state-wide competition for funding to develop innovative products that could be manufactured in Ohio, the PDD team decided to develop the concept of a portable and cost-effective Advanced Photobiotherapy Device (APD) for the nursing home market.

Ed Nolan, Vice President, notes that phototherapy is a well-proven treatment for bed sores. However, most phototherapy units cost around $70,000—far more than a typical nursing home could afford. The PDD team decided to develop an effective, portable phototherapy unit that could be manufactured and sold for around $20,000 a unit.

“If 24 percent of nursing home residents are going to get a bed sore and it costs $400 a day to treat, those numbers quickly become staggering,” says Nolan. “Our focus was on reducing the Medicare costs to the State of Ohio. That's what helped us win $1.3 million in state funding.”

PDD used this project competition to document the effectiveness of its public/private network model for developing new products.

• Beginning in 2005, MAGNET PDD gathered a team of public and private entities to collaborate on the development of the APD.
• MAGNET PDD functioned as program manager, provided mechanical engineering expertise, patented the design and developed the working prototypes.
• The University of Toledo’s Department of Bioengineering developed the optical systems.
• The UT College of Medicine conducted the clinical trials.
• A division of Valtronic Technologies USA (a private company with expertise in marketing medical devices) will handle commercialization, manufacture and distribution.