Finding it increasingly difficult to figure out the latest high-tech gadgets at Best Buy? Dr. Thomas Krummel has little sympathy for you. In the annual Karl Storz Lecture, Dr. Krummel addressed the problem of surgeons innovating in an increasingly technological world. 

Although an individual could once possess enough knowledge about both surgery and technology to develop useful innovations, that time has passed. The technological complexities required to full current surgical needs have become too overwhelming, and surgeon-innovators are having a difficult time turning their visions into realities.

To respond to this problem, Dr. Krummel has helped develop a two-year Biodesign fellowship at Stanford University that combines medicine, engineering, and business in order to educate a new generation of innovators. Surgeons can apply at the end of their residency or fellowship. Dr. Krummel’s team first identifies a specific need in medical or surgical practice and then undergoes a five-step process—boot camp, clinical immersion, brainstorming, concept selection, and concept development— in order to create and develop a solution. In the eight years since its inception, the program has led to the creation of more than 50 inventions and 10 startup companies.