A leading cause of surgical fires and patient burns in the U.S. is from overheating lighting instruments in the operating room. These accidental fires can result in hospital staff injury, patient burns and in some cases death.

To address this safety issue, James Rains and Kamil Makhnejia created a fiber-optic light safety shield called GloShield at the Georgia Institute of Technology. GloShield is a disposable safety device that caps endoscopic light cables to reduce the risk of fire and patient burns during laparoscopic procedures.

The GloShield team received a Coulter grant to assist with product feasibly and early-development. Their company, Jackson Medical, has since raised over $100K in investment and as of June 2018 successfully launched nationwide sales.

To learn more about their company and product, visit jackson-medical.com.