Vivian Mushahwar, a biomedical engineer who works in the area of pressure ulcers, was initially indifferent to the market potential for her research but became interested in it when a great amount of attention was given to her work.

 

“Like most researchers at the University of Alberta, my survival depends heavily on my scientific productivity and not as much on whether or not I move my inventions into the marketplace,” said Mushahwar, a professor in cell biology at the Heritage Medical Research Centre. “So until industry became interested in what I was doing, I didn’t worry about commercialization.”

 

Mushahwar and her team developed rehabilitation interventions for improving and restoring lost function after spinal-cord injury, head trauma or stroke. Most recently, Mushahwar has been working with her team on developing technologies to help prevent pressure ulcers, or bedsores, in patients with spinal-cord injuries. A pressure sore can occur when a patient sits or lies in the same position long enough that the flow of blood is cut off to that area. When the tissue becomes starved for too long, it begins to die and a pressure sore starts to form.

 

Mushahwar is inventing a device that sends out intermittent electrical impulses to periodically shift a person’s posture, which healthy people do naturally to avoid discomfort. This will prevent patients with spinal-cord injuries from staying in one position too long. Once a pressure ulcer forms, it takes a long time and a lot of care to heal.

 

When Mushahwar was originally faced with the prospect of commercialization, she decided to involve the experts at TEC Edmonton. “TEC Edmonton took it all on and did all the work. If the process had depended on me, it wouldn’t have happened,” Mushahwar said.

 

Because of support from TEC Edmonton, Mushahwar was able to protect her intellectual property, push her technology forward and get Biomotion, a local company with international connections and a proven track record, interested in licensing the intellectual property and in the task of prototyping and commercializing the end product.

 

“TEC Edmonton negotiated an agreement that was best for us, Biomotion and all the parties involved with our research,” Mushahwar said. “I could see that they had our best interest at heart in order to see it through to market.”