Mass Murderers | VINCI | A Term Project | Nanotech | From the Heart

When a term project becomes a commercial reality

by Marie Bernard

It is quite a feat to walk along a crowded hospital corridor wearing a flimsy hospital gown and pushing a walker, holding aloft a saline drip or just doing your best to get another examination room without exposing some part of your body. It was with this plight in mind that Noémi Marquis, an undergraduate student at Université de Montréal’s School of Industrial Design, came up with a new design of the traditional hospital gown as her final-year project. Supervised by Denyse Roy, Director of the School’s Meta-Textile Laboratory, Noémi came up with the Duo Gown, a design that married the constraints of efficiency and low cost to the preservation of human dignity. Not only did her completed project earn her top honours at UdeM, it went on to win 3rd place at the Association of Health Technologies Industry's (AITS) 2006 edition of the Innovation-Research Contest, quite an accomplishment given that the competition was made up of graduate students and researchers in the health sciences.

An eye for opportunity

Things would have ended there had it not been for the prescience of Pierre Patenaude, a research officer with UdeM’s Office of Research Services and Development. Indeed, for Noémi, the school project was just that, and she had entertained no thoughts of finding a market for her creation. However, Pierre, who routinely inquires about things going on at the School of Industrial Design, pricked up his ears when he heard of the new hospital gown. Indeed, he was immediately struck by its commercial potential: “Given that is my role to establish a relationship of trust and accompaniment with both researchers and students alike, I am always interested in knowing what kind of research activities are going on in the faculties I cover. I have always been struck by the impressive creative potential at all levels, including work by undergraduate and graduate students. When I learned about Noémi’s project, the gown’s commercial possibilities quickly became apparent to me that inasmuch as it met all the criteria for a marketable product (originality, innovation, feasibility, positive impact in a given setting).” Pierre wasted no time in getting in touch with Noémi not only to make her aware of the gown’s commercial potential, but also to advise her with regard to various aspects of intellectual property and the commercialization process. Pierre continued to work with Noémi to develop an attractive project and then got in touch with Luc E. Morisset, Business Development Director at Univalor (UdeM’s commercial arm), who subsequently began licence negotiations with a commercial partner.

Compared to current gowns, the Duo Gown covers the entire body by means of two half-gowns worn simultaneously. There are no flaps so there are no potentially embarrassing openings, and there are no draw strings, a feature which gives easy access by physicians, nurses and other health professionals. In addition to meeting industry standards, the gown’s cost/benefit ratio makes it an attractive alternative for hospitals. “Indeed,” notes Denyse Roy, “although its production cost is the same as the traditional hospital gown, its advantages (ease of movement, dignity for wearers, a wide range of wearer-decided colour combinations and lower maintenance costs) more than meet the expectations of health professionals.”

“The gown will be tested by an industrial partner and by health professionals this fall. If these tests yield a positive result, we could well see patients in hospitals wearing the Duo Gown in 2007”, notes Pierre Patenaude.