Calypso Medical's 4D Localization System Receives Industrial Design Gold Award
Seattle, WA - Calypso Medical Technologies, Inc. announced the Calypso 4D Localization System has been selected as a Gold Award winner in BusinessWeek's annual issue celebrating the best product designs of the year. The Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) and BusinessWeek co-sponsor the International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA). With 1,691 entries submitted, the Calypso 4D Localization System was selected as one of 20 Gold Award winners.
Calypso Medical, a startup medical device company in Seattle, Washington, worked with two design firms on the product design: IDEO (Palo Alto, CA) and Ziba (Portland, OR). This unconventional strategy enabled Calypso Medical to leverage strengths of both design firms, focusing on use scenarios of the current practice, defining product requirements and designing unique engineering solutions to the proprietary product design.
The Calypso 4D Localization System utilizes proprietary electromagnetic technology in conjunction with implanted Beacon electromagnetic transponders in the prostate. The system is designed to enable doctors to accurately and objectively position cancer patients for radiation therapy treatment, and then measure and monitor tumor motion during radiation therapy delivery. Continuous knowledge of the tumor location is expected to provide greater confidence to clinicians and patients when they know that the radiation beam is always on target. Because the product platform does not require expertise in interpreting x-ray or ultrasound images, it greatly reduces the time to perform patient setup, a well-recognized bottleneck in the radiation department workflow.
"Excellence in product design is at the core of all successful products," said Eric R. Meier, president and chief executive officer, Calypso Medical. "Medical devices are continually raising the bar on product design and usability. To get design right means you need to understand and anticipate the customer's needs, a challenge that incorporates both art and science in the process. In our case this meant listening to and acting on input from physicians, physicists, radiation therapists and patients. We are very proud of our product design and the recognition for the IDEA Gold Award."
Chief technology officer and executive vice president J. Nelson Wright added, "Design innovation, product usability, and engineering excellence have been key elements in Calypso Medical's product development strategy. Our goal is to design cancer therapy products that are easy to use, while maintaining extreme accuracy and precision, in the very harsh environment of radiation. Working with high caliber design firms like IDEO and Ziba allowed our small startup company to bring a wealth of resources to bear on a number of technical and product usability challenges."
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted 510(k) clearance for the Calypso 4D Localization System and Beacon electromagnetic transponders for use in the prostate in July, 2006 and commercialization began in January 2007. Early demand for the product is very strong and customers are complimentary of the clinical benefits including the first product of its kind to offer efficient, accurate, real-time treatment setup and monitoring of the tumor position with a very intuitive user interface.
"The creative process that resulted in this design award was made possible through the dedication of our team, our design associates and collaboration with a number of world-class clinicians who worked with us on the early product concepts and prototypes. We are proud of this accomplishment and are gratified that good product design is being rewarded in the marketplace," notes Lynn Purdy, VP Market Development.
SOURCE: Calypso Medical Technologies, Inc.