Las Vegas, NV — The Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative (PRHI) proudly announced the winners of the 2025 Patient Safety Technology Challenge Grand Awards at CES® 2025 in Las Vegas. The competition showcased groundbreaking innovations aimed at transforming health care and improving patient safety.
After a virtual competition comprised of a pool of over 700 patient safety teams from across the country that culminated in six finalists showcasing their groundbreaking solutions on stage at CES on January 9, three winners were announced in the Idea, Development, and Growth categories, respectively:
- SoundPass Medical* - a prior winner during the Challenged-sponsored Bench to Bedside Competitions at University of Utah Health in both 2023 and 2024 - reimagined neurosurgical precision with an ultrasound-guided stylet for external ventricular drains, offering real-time 3D imaging to enhance safety and reduce risks during brain procedures.
- Bloom Surgical - a prior winner at the Challenged-sponsored Bench to Bedside Competition at University of Utah Health in 2024 - introduced LaparoVision, a single-use laparoscope lens cleaner that ensures surgeons maintain visibility during critical procedures, reducing delays and improving outcomes.
- Elythea - a previous winner of the Challenge-sponsored prize at the Fowler Global Social Innovation Challenge at the University of San Diego and St. Thomas University in 2023 - developed an AI platform that predicts pregnancy complications early, helping clinicians allocate resources and engage high-risk patients with timely interventions, particularly in underserved areas.
Each winning team received a $7,000 prize for their transformative ideas.
*SoundPass Medical were also the winners of a $10,000 prize from the U.S. Army xTech Live Pitch Competition that took place a few booths down from the Patient Safety Technology Challenge booth.
The Patient Safety Technology Challenge also celebrated the ingenuity of the three runners-up by awarding $1,250 each to the following worthy innovators:
- Galen Health - a competitor in the Challenge-sponsored Hack-a-Startup at Carnegie Mellon University in 2023 - has created early detection technology for pancreatic cancer.
- Reel Free - a previous winner of Challenged-sponsored award at ASUio at Arizona State University in 2024 - developed the Reelmate Remote, a motorized device that manages oxygen tubing in home healthcare settings.
- ERinfo - a competitor in the Challenge-sponsored Columbia-CareOne Healthcare Innovation Challenge at Columbia University in 2022 - designed facial recognition and AI tools for patient identification during emergencies.
“The opportunity to participate in the Patient Safety Technology Challenge and pitch at CES has been a huge boost to our team. It is very motivating to be surrounded by other innovators and teams experiencing some of the same challenges as us as we collectively work towards developing new products to improve patient safety,” said Jacob Sheffield of Bloom Surgical, winner of the Development Stage category.
“We have had a fantastic time competing for this year’s patient safety award and are honored to be chosen as winners in our category,” said Travis Hotchkiss of SoundPass Medical, winner of the Idea Stage category. “Initiatives like this provide critical funding for early stage ideas like ours, but even more important is often the connections that we make by being promoted and pitching at an event as large as CES. We are excited to keep moving forward on improving the safety of external ventricular drain placement for patients who need this critical procedure.”
"CES was a great experience to meet other link minded health innovators working to push the standard of care for patient safety," said Reetam Ganguili of Elythea, winner of the Growth Stage category. "CES places the focus of medical innovation where it should be - the patient."
The Patient Safety Technology Challenge is part of PRHI and JHF’s ongoing commitment to advancing safety innovation in health care. The winners were selected based on criteria including innovation, scalability, impact on patient safety, and feasibility.
CES 2025 served as the ideal platform for unveiling these pioneering solutions, drawing attention from healthcare leaders, investors, and technology enthusiasts worldwide.
Background
The Patient Safety Technology Challenge is funded by JHF and administered by PRHI. This initiative sponsors patient safety awards at local, regional, and national competitions to foster tech-enabled solutions that reduce patient harm. To date, The Patient Safety Technology Challenge has partnered with over 65 competitions across the U.S., Canada, and the U.K., resulting in 844 teams creating solutions to enhance patient safety.