BrightWater Medical is a mid-stage medical device company uniquely positioned to significantly impact the treatment of ureteral blockages by interventional radiologists. The company was founded by Dr. Bob Smouse, Associate Professor of Radiology & Surgery, University of Illinois College of Medicine. Dr. Smouse is a leading interventional radiologist, clinician, academic and entrepreneur, with more than 20 years of experience in interventional radiology, endovascular surgery and clinical research.

BrightWater Medical is a mid-stage medical device company uniquely positioned to significantly impact the treatment of ureteral blockages by interventional radiologists. The company was founded by Dr. Bob Smouse, Associate Professor of Radiology & Surgery, University of Illinois College of Medicine. Dr. Smouse is a leading interventional radiologist, clinician, academic and entrepreneur, with more than 20 years of experience in interventional radiology, endovascular surgery and clinical research.

Mente Medical offers a data-driven solution aimed at optimizing surgical instrument trays to enhance operating room (OR) efficiency and reduce costs. Their platform uses RFID technology to track instrument usage during surgeries, allowing hospitals to significantly cut down the number of instruments in each tray without compromising surgical outcomes. By optimizing trays, Mente helps reduce the complexity of OR setup and teardown, lowers sterile processing workloads, and minimizes instrument-related errors. Developed, tested and used at Duke Health, the Mente system has shown substantial reductions in the number of instruments needed, with some surgeries seeing up to 70% of instruments removed without subsequent requests for the eliminated tools. This streamlining not only improves workflow but also translates to significant cost savings— up to $100,000 in annual savings per OR. This technology ultimately leads to faster OR setup, less tray weight, and improved patient care.

Our solution tracks instrument usage in a realtime, automated fashion.