Surgical Bed Startup Signs Seven Figure Military Deal

By Chuck Seegert, Ph.D.

For injured military personnel, setting up field hospitals quickly can literally mean the difference between life and death. A new solution for surgical beds excels in this environment and will be used by at least one branch of the military for all forward operating theaters.

Traumatic injury incurred in battle is a major concern for the military. Rapid response by surgical teams requires them to be as close to the field as possible in order to stabilize soldiers who have been hurt. Transporting patients to a more distant, but better equipped hospital leads to lost time and dramatically increases the chances that the patient could die.

Improving responsiveness in settings like these was the goal of a Georgia-based startup that developed a device called the “Doak Table,” according to a recent Georgia Tech press release.

“They [the service members] don’t have the luxury of time, so the critical issue we sought to address was, ‘how do we get the care closer to where they are,’” said Mark W. Trimble, a Georgia Tech graduate and managing principal of Morzine Medical, in the press release.

The Doak Table — named after the inventor’s father, a military surgeon — can be unfolded and fully ready for use in less than one minute, which is a far cry from similar products that take up to 30 minutes. Additionally, it weighs only 41 to 45 pounds and has no loose components that can get lost. The rapidly deployed platform is stable and can hold up to 600 pounds, while providing all the functions that a surgical table in a hospital can provide.

The startup, called Morzine Medical, is part of the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) at Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI²). The ATDC is a technology incubator that assists with establishing startups. In this case, the ATDC was instrumental in helping Morzine Medical meet the manufacturing requirements of the military’s seven figure contract.

“With Georgia Tech’s help, we’re in a position to supply the U.S. military with Doak Tables and in sufficient quantities to allow it to be the standard operating table in far forward surgical hospitals,” said Trimble in the press release. “They accelerated the process because we were able to tap into their knowledge.”

The military continues to invest in technologies that support combat-based service members. Recently, the Department of Defense also announced a collaborative project with Abbott laboratories to develop a rapid concussion test for point of care use.

Image Credit: Morzine Medical