At ASU, biodesign innovations start at the bedside

Wearing protective equipment and standing feet from the operating table, Arizona State University graduate student Tina Ton watched a prostatectomy occur on her first day at Mayo Clinic in Arizona. 

What surprised her most wasn’t the intensity of the moment, but how quickly her role shifted from passive observer to actively listening as surgeons explained anatomy, workflow and where even small improvements could make a difference.

“I was worried about how I would react,” says Ton. “But once it started, I was focused on understanding the procedure and the environment. The surgery actually ended up being one of my favorite procedures to watch. It made everything feel real right away.”

Experiences like this are at the heart of IMPACT, or Innovations in Medical and Patient Care Technologies, a master’s degree program offered through the School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering, part of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University, in collaboration with Mayo Clinic in Arizona. 

Developed in the Mayo Clinic and Arizona State University Alliance for Health Care, through the Biomedical Engineering Program initiative, the program places students in one of the nation’s most advanced clinical settings, where they observe care delivery, identify opportunities for innovation and begin designing solutions grounded in real-world practice.

A new model of health care innovation

For Debby Keller, a colorectal surgeon and ASU Professor of Practice, and Aman Verma, a hospitalist at Mayo Clinic in Arizona, moments like Ton’s represent the future of biomedical innovation. 

Both clinicians have spent their careers working at the intersection of medicine and technology, where new ideas take shape alongside real patients and real clinical teams. Trained as faculty through the Stanford Mussallem Center for Biodesign’s Global Faculty Training Program, they saw an opportunity to bring that environment directly into graduate education, creating a pathway for biomedical engineers to learn how technologies are built and used.

At ASU, that vision found an academic champion in Jit Muthuswamy, an associate professor in the School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering who has spent years working with students and industry partners across Arizona’s growing biomedical sector. 

Through conversations with graduating students and collaborators, Muthuswamy saw a clear need for engineers trained not only to design technologies but to translate them into real-world clinical solutions.

“Over time, a consistent message emerged,” Muthuswamy says. “There was a real need for a program that could prepare students to serve the medical device industry and innovate in health care solutions, especially as Arizona continues to grow as a hub for biomedical innovation.”

Unlike traditional biomedical engineering programs, IMPACT begins at the bedside. Students in the three-semester program start their training at Mayo Clinic, rotating through diverse specialties. 

Verma leads the program’s clinical immersion, where students in their first semester shadow care teams, observe workflows and learn to listen deeply to both patients and providers.

“Many brilliant technologies never make it to the bedside,” says Verma, who earned his biomedical engineering degree at ASU before becoming a physician. “That’s often because they’re built without a clear understanding of the actual clinical problem. IMPACT bridges that gap by embedding students in real-world care environments from day one.”

Students say that access to care teams has been one of the most defining aspects of the experience, offering perspectives that extend far beyond the operating room.

“In a team-based clinical setting, everyone is a subject matter expert,” Ton says. “Physicians, nurses, technicians and fellows all understand the pain points far better than you ever could from a classroom, and they’re willing to help you understand.”

“We spend a lot of time on the patient and physician side before we touch the engineering side,” IMPACT student Jake Malobicky says. “That changes how you think about what you’re building and why.”

Building the future — one innovator at a time

After completing a semester of clinical immersion at Mayo Clinic, IMPACT students spend the remainder of the program translating what they’ve observed into action. Over the next two semesters, they blend engineering, medicine and entrepreneurship with coursework in prototyping, regulatory strategy, competitive analysis and intellectual property development. 

But beyond technical skills, the program cultivates curiosity, empathy and resilience.

Students are organized into small teams and assigned to pursue the most promising clinical needs they identify during immersion. Ton and Malobicky, for example, are part of Team TACKLE, which is exploring ways to prevent painful skin complications that can occur around ileostomy sites, a challenge faced by some patients after intestinal surgery.

For Joshua Hanson, the program has also helped sharpen ideas he was already developing through a medical device startup. 

“You can’t build an effective solution without understanding reimbursement, workflow and patient experience,” says Hanson, who is part of the first IMPACT cohort that will graduate this summer. “Clinical immersion opens your eyes to all of that.”

Like his classmates, Hanson is also working with a team to evaluate clinical needs identified during immersion. Team Gastronova is exploring concepts to improve how physicians monitor early cancer risk in patients with Barrett’s esophagus and restore digestive tract function in patients recovering from surgery.

Keller, IMPACT’s program chair, says the goal is to help students carry clinical insight all the way through development and deployment. 

“Our goal isn’t just to produce products,” she says. “It’s to produce people who have mastered the process of innovation and can continue applying it across any problem at hand — people who can identify needs, build teams, navigate systems and ultimately improve patient lives.”

Muthuswamy envisions the program continuing to grow across disciplines and institutions, bringing together engineers, clinicians and business leaders.

“The movement of students and mentors between ASU and health care environments is essential for sustained innovation,” he says. “IMPACT has the potential to strengthen ASU’s translational pipeline while contributing to Arizona’s broader biomedical ecosystem.”

Looking ahead, Hanson says the IMPACT program has reshaped how he approaches innovation. 

“It’s changed how I think about leadership, problem-solving and impact,” he says. “No matter where I go next, the way we’re taught to approach problems here will stay with me.”