'Everyday Edisons' Drive Medical Innovation

The search for better cures for what ails us has led to a steady stream of amazing biomedical technology and engineering breakthroughs. And while we have already seen countless, impressive, new medical electronics devices appear on the market, the fact is that we've just barely scratched the surface of what's possible. There's still plenty of room for great ideas.

But, as most in the design community know, having a great idea is only the starting point. The real work starts with design and engineering, building prototypes, extensive testing, government approvals, legal protections, and, hopefully, manufacturing and marketing. For the past several years, PBS in conjunction with Charlotte, N.C.-based Edison Nation, has been chronicling this process through an Emmy Award-winning reality series called Everyday Edisons.

Edison Nation is a product design and development group with expertise in the consumer, industrial, and medical spaces. In the show, everyday people from around the country submit ideas and prototypes that Edison Nation's experts help bring to life.

In 2012, Edison Nation partnered with Carolinas HealthCare System to form Edison Nation Medical, a joint venture to stimulate innovations in healthcare and improvements in patient care. The company provides a clear pathway for anyone -- doctors, nurses, technicians, entrepreneurs, patients, caregivers -- to submit a medical product idea for in-depth analysis and potential commercialization by expert medical, product development, and licensing experts. Edison Nation Medical splits profits with any successful inventor.

For its upcoming season, Everyday Edisons will focus on medical innovation, based on submissions to Edison Nation Medical. Chances are good that any number of fledging inventions featured on the show, or underway in Edison Nation Medical labs, will involve electronics. As electronics engineers know, sooner or later you'll need an oscilloscope and other test equipment to debug and troubleshoot designs.

As a big believer in innovation itself, Tektronix has donated a cross-section of advanced test instrumentation to Edison Nation Medical, including an MDO4000 mixed domain oscilloscope, an MSO3000 series mixed signal oscilloscope, two DPO3000 series oscilloscopes, an AFG2000 series function generator, a DMM4040 digital multimeter, and other supporting technologies.

Needless to say, we are looking forward to the upcoming Everyday Edisons season, and we hope you'll tune in. To learn more or to submit your ideas, go to edisonnationmedical.com.

— Faride Akretch is a technical marketing manager for Tektronix.

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