The Wall Street Journal has awarded top honors in the medical-devices category and an overall silver medal to the i-LIMB Hand by Touch Bionics, Livingston, Scotland, in the Journal’s 2009 Technology Innovation Awards contest.
Sixteen judges who hailed from the top levels of research institutions, venture-capital firms, and other companies reviewed more than 180 entries in the contest. The Journal stated, “Judges considered whether innovations were truly groundbreaking and-new this year-looked at whether their application would be particularly useful in a time of economic hardship.” The contest’s overall gold medal winner was a microchip-based device by Ibis Biosciences, Carlsbad, California. The chip detects all known disease-causing pathogens in a given biological sample. The bronze winner was a solar-powered base station designed to bring cellular telephone technology to remote villages. It is produced by Vihaan Networks Lts. (VNL), India.
“At Touch Bionics, we are delighted by the Wall Street Journal’s recognition of our innovations which have altered the prosthetics market landscape,” said Stuart Mead, Touch Bionics CEO. “This award validates our drive toward innovation and our place in the prosthetics community as a forward-thinking company. Competing with such technologically advanced companies and winning silver in such a prestigious competition recognizes our efforts to offer amputees an alternative that comes closer to the human hand than any other device on the market.”
Winners of the contest will receive their awards during a ceremony and dinner on October 13 in Redwood City, California. The ceremony will be held concurrently with the Dow Jones VentureWire Technology Showcase.
