“If you can come up with a solution to this problem, you’ll be a millionaire.” While attending pharmacy school, Sue Carr worked in a hospital as a pharmacy technician, becoming quickly frustrated by the cumbersome process that follows when health-care providers break open glass ampules to dispense medication. Inevitably, glass shards must be filtered out with a filter needle. Once filtered, the needle full of glass shards must be recapped, removed and discarded. A new needle then must be attached to the syringe to dispense the medication. This becomes more than an inconvenience during emergencies or other situations where the filter needle is not used properly. Pulmonary embolism is one serious consequence of failure to get the glass out before the medication is injected.
After decades in both retail and hospital pharmacies, with the problem still unsolved by industry, Sue went looking to create a solution. Through a collaboration with Research Triangle Park engineers, Sue has developed a prototype, which is currently in the pre FDA submission process. The FROG™ (filtered removal of glass) needle reduces eight steps for medication dispensing to five, increasing safety, and decreasing hazard, time, and medical waste along the way. The FROG™ needle is an all in one package medical device with parts for both filtering the glass out and administering medication. The filter is safer not only for patients, but also providers by eliminating needle stick injuries.
CarrTech LLC holds three US patents, a patent pending in Canada and is poised for Food and Drug Administration approval for a 510 k Class II device in 2020. Having raised funds through friends and family, Sue was attracted to FITCI for the resources, business education and guidance on raising outside funding. She set out to solve a vexing problem for patients and providers. (Being a millionaire would be nice as well, of course.)
Written by: Tamar Osterman, BOD Media Chair
