The Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center (M2D2) at UMass-Lowell doled out a four $50,000 matching "Fast Lane" grants to early-stage medical device companies.
It is the latest round of grants from the center, which aims to help young startups commercialize their products.
Travis Lau, a third-year resident at Tufts Medical Center, landed one of the grants to develop a hand-held safety suturing device aimed at reducing the risk of accidental needlesticks by healthcare professionals.
Lau, 29, says that the M2D2 awards were a big credibility boost for his fledgling product.
"It is a great opportunity to bridge the concept into a prototype," he says.
Lau says he hopes to license his product to a larger company once the prototype is built.
The three other winners are Duxbury's Aura Medsystems Inc., which is developing a photo-chemical tissue bonding technique; Padraig Cantilon-Murphy of Brigham & Women's Hospital for a self-assembling magnetic system via endoscopic needle; and Children's Hospital Boston's John Kheir for an intra-venous oxygenation system using injectable micro-bubbles.
In addition to the $50,000 grants, which the companies must match, M2D2 will provide product prototyping services, marketing and business planning assistance and help from the UMass Medical School. Aura Medsystems will also get a slot at the center's incubation space.