Improving Healthcare Through Computer Aided Design: Vaibhav Bajaj’s Vision

At one of the world’s largest companies focusing on wearable health technology and computer-aided design (CAD), Vaibhav Bajaj is a Product Planner. Having earned a Master of Engineering Management degree from Duke University following a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering and a Master’s in Chemistry from the prestigious Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani, he has devoted his technical and business knowledge to the innovation, scaling, and strategic planning of cutting-edge technologies designed to improve human health and well-being. (Source: Techbullion)

While studying biomedical device invention at Duke University Hospital, Vaibhav started his professional path. There, he realized the need for an improved method to sterilize post-surgical drains. So lowering the chance of surgical site infections in patients who had undergone a number of surgical operations, including mastectomies, liver and kidney transplants, pancreatic cancer surgeries, abdominoplasties, and general plastic surgeries. Using Computer-Aided Design (CAD), he and his team created a wearable UV (ultraviolet) sterilization device that not only received a U.S. patent but also secured a significant development grant from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. 

Duke University is now working to commerciallise this potentially life-saving invention that seeks to improve patient outcomes by lowering post-operative infections and promoting outpatient detox and rehab options. Vaibhav served as Category Lead for wearable healthcare technologies at Walmart before assuming his present role, overseeing planning, leading, and launching several cross-functional strategic projects supporting a $1.3 billion medical device portfolio throughout e-commerce and many omnichannel channels. 

We had a talk with Vaibhav about the introduction of new technology to solve urgent problems in healthcare as well as obstacles encountered when introducing innovative tools to the market.

What inspired Vibhav to Pursue Advanced Education in Engineering Management and Biomedical Device Innovation?

He constantly followed developing innovations and technologies early in his engineering career. He also looked for means to advertise these technology developments to customers in order to improve their lives. He saw many successful new businesses fail and had a great insight: just creating something unique was inadequate. A founder or innovator has to look at how their invention improves society generally and the end user. While inventing new technologies, he worked carefully to gain corporate and commercialization expertise. 

Regarding healthcare, he thought it would be a perfect area for him to help. He found outstanding biomedical device invention workshops at Duke University exactly in line with his aims. Therefore, having finished his bachelor’s degree from BITS Pilani, he decided to enroll in a Master’s degree in Engineering Management at Duke University to keep honing his multidisciplinary ability.

The Process of Inventing the Innovative Sterilization Device. How Did Bajaj Use computer-aided design (CAD) to Envision a New Kind of Wearable Healthcare Technology?

After looking at the surgical drains on the market, the main problem found was their non-reusability, which dramatically slowed the patient’s removal and replacement work and increased expenses. This provided the team with two possible answers, either completely rethink the current surgical drain or develop a fresh device designed to solve the problem of ‘removing and replacing’ the drains, therefore lowering the infection risk connected with the current drains. 

Bajaj understood then that going the second route was a far more beneficial choice since it would be mechanically practical and reasonably priced. Modeling the current surgical drain with computer-aided design (CAD) software enabled us to see a three-dimensional picture of the device and thoroughly grasp the dimensions and subtleties of the drain’s surface. One of the major difficulties they faced when modeling the bulb in computer-aided design was guaranteeing it was airtight to avoid any UV radiation and bacterial leakage and allow for removal at the patient’s discretion. computer-aided design gave them the precise dimensions needed to create an airtight seal while minimizing the amount of silicone material used.

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