Nurse-Led Innovation Secures Funding to Advance Urinary Drainage Securement Device Toward Commercialization
We are proud to share that Karen Meade, MS, APRN-CNS, AGCNS-BC, OCN, PhD nursing student and researcher with the Elaine Marieb Center for Nursing and Engineering Innovation, was recently awarded approximately $50,000 in funding through The Ohio State University’s Accelerator Awards program. This new support will help advance her nurse-led invention, the b3 Buddy, into the next phase of development and commercialization.
The b3 Buddy, short for bag below bladder buddy, is designed to improve urinary drainage securement in patients with urinary catheters. This innovative solution secures urinary drainage bags below the bladder during patient ambulation, preventing backward flow, promoting infection prevention, and safety. It can also help keep the drainage bag elevated off the floor in very low bed frames, supporting a variety of clinical needs in different settings.
Conceived in 2020, the project began with seed funding and support from The Ohio State University’s Innovation Studio. Karen Meade collaborated with engineers and an occupational therapist to refine the idea, working with the Center for Manufacturing and Design Excellence (CDME) at The Ohio State University to produce a functional prototype. Thanks to this interdisciplinary effort, the team was able to conduct an IRB-approved feasibility study on hospitalized patients. The results demonstrated the b3 buddy’s feasibility, usability, and acceptability in real-world clinical settings.
With Accelerator Award funding, Meade and her team will now begin critical pre-commercialization steps. This includes conducting a regulatory analysis to determine if FDA approval is required and a freedom to operate analysis to assess any potential intellectual property conflicts.
This project is a shining example of nurse-driven innovation powered by interdisciplinary collaboration. The Elaine Marieb Center is proud to have team members creating innovations where frontline clinical insight is transformed into practical solutions that improve patient safety and care delivery.
7/21/25