CHARLOTTE — Healthcare professionals at Atrium Health are guiding the invention of a seizure guard designed by a medical student.
Back in July, leaders from Atrium Health’s supplier diversity and supply chain groups held a ‘Discovery Day’, which has been described as a ‘Shark Tank for Health Care’. The event allowed professionals to consider new and innovative products that could improve health care.
Just four months later, the group has begun piloting a device shown at the event that supposedly helps protect people during seizures.
The new device is called ‘PATI’, and is a small, single-use oral device to protect against tongue injury. The device was developed by NeuroVice, based in Cary, North Carolina, and founded in 2016 by Ashylyn Sanders, a UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke University graduate and a current third-year medical student at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
Sanders is currently doing rotations at Atrium Health in Charlotte and plans to become a pediatric neuro-oncologist.
Epilepsy is the fourth-common neurological condition; it affects about 50 million people around the world. Current guidelines say not to put something in someone’s mouth while they’re having a seizure to prevent further injury. The PATI hopes to provide a safe option to prevent oral injuries during an episode while still making sure fluids can be naturally drained or suctioned.
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