The Tucson Company makes ear cleaning technology a recognized challenge for innovation

LAKE LARGER Photo courtesy of safkan in-ear device.

Tucson ear care technology has won a place in an innovation competition that offers monetary rewards.

SafKan Inc. was one of ten winners of the Arizona Innovation Challenge Spring held twice a year by the Arizona Trade Authority. The selected companies each earn up to $ 150,000 and participate in the ACA Venture Ready Business Mentoring Program.

"In other states, we do not see many opportunities like this, so we wanted to compete," said Sahil Diwan, co-founder and CEO of SafKan Inc., a hearing aid company.

The Arizona Innovation Challenge is one of the most competitive and important competitions in the country. The goal is to promote technological innovation and commercialization in Arizona by supporting start-ups.

The hearing aid company successfully completed the four stages of the challenge and obtained approval from the judges by installing a device that would remove contaminated wax from a patient in just 35 seconds.

The OtoSet wax extractor was designed by a graduate of the University of Arizona in bioengineering and biomedical engineering, today's CTO and co-founder of SafKan Inc., Aadil Diwan. He is the brother of Sahil.

"My older brother always had the problem of seeing a doctor every few months to clean his ears," Sahil said.

He said that people with this problem can certainly understand the problem Aadil faced. Affected cerumen can cause pain, ringing or tinnitus and is actually the leading cause of partial hearing loss.

Each year, 12 million Americans visit their doctor to remove excess wax and its effects. The problem affects 1 in 10 children, 1 in 20 adults and more than a third of those over 65 years old.

The current practice of primary care for removing excess earwax from affected ears is the ear and bladder syringe, which has been common since 1821, a troublesome and potentially uncomfortable procedure for the patient and the physician.

Looking for a better experience in removing cerumen, Aadil, after graduating from UA, came up with the idea of ​​using a conditioner and a scavenger to quickly remove the affected match.

"People often say that [OtoSet] looks like a Beats by Dre helmet," said Sahil, who teamed with her brother to market the device.

In fact, OtoSet looks like a smart helmet.

According to Sahil, a doctor simply fills the containers with saline, adjusts the patient's head, inserts the tip into the patient's ears, and then performs a 35-second cleaning cycle. The saline solution is directed to the walls of the channel to decompose the wax, while the continuous suction draws it from the ear to the tips and disposable containers. For the doctor, the cleaning configuration takes less than 5 minutes.

It may seem a bit strange to build a device that cleans the ears, said Sahil.

Before continuing, the brothers contacted more than 100 doctors to ask them if it was crazy to make a device that would clean their ears.

"The answer was, and as it is today, as long as it is safe, works and is offered at reasonable prices, these doctors can see that it will become the new standard of care." he said

Since its inception in 2016, OtoSet has been awarded to more than 150 physicians across the country as part of its "beta program".

"They helped us develop, test and iterate the device [...] We had a lot of positive comments," he said.

After selecting the AIC Award for the AIC, the AIC will use this tool to produce his ear deflashing device and strengthen his sales and marketing team in Tucson.

The company applies for FDA approval for this device. The goal is to make OtoSet the new standard of clinical care in the US and then internationally.

Once OtoSet has completed clinical validation, the company hopes to create a consumer version of the device.

Monika Damron is a journalism student at the University of Arizona and an intern at Arizona Public Media.

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