Stents, TAVR, TMVR, Medical Devices

 

- Interventional Cardiology Devices:

   -  Coronary and Peripheral Stent Design and Fabrication

   -  Percutaneous Heart  Valve  Design and Fabrication

   -  Intravascular Brachytherapy of Coronary and Peripheral Arteries

   -  Interventional and Diagnostic Catheter Design and Fabrication

   -  Catheter Sheath Introducer Design and Fabrication

   -  Laparoscopic Surgical Device Design

 

- Robotic Surgical Device Design

   -  Robotic Controlled Surgical Staplers

   -  Handheld Endoscopic Surgical Instruments

   -  Robotic Surgical End Effectors

   - Hydraulic Surgical Robotics

 

-  Intraocular Surgical Instruments

-  High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) ultrasonic surgical instruments

 

 

 

Rick Hillstead has been actively involved in the design and development of medical devices for over 25 years. He has held several progressive, Product Research and Development positions with Cordis Corporation (Johnson & Johnson) from 1987 to 1993 where he pioneered device development in the Cordis Coronary Stent program as a Senior Corporate Research Engineer.  He then directed new technology development for Novoste Corporation from 1993 until 1999 primarily focusing on intravascular brachytherapy catheters and systems for the treatment of coronary restenosis following angioplasty and stenting.  In 1999 he became a founding member of The Innovation Factory, a private medical device incubator in Duluth, GA.  At The Innovation Factory he served as Chief Science Officer and was primarily responsible for all aspects of New Product R&D and technical due diligence including IP analysis and portfolio management. He developed and managed the internal program for identifying and protecting both internal and external inventions.  His primary areas of expertise are diagnostic and interventional devices for interventional cardiology, laparoscopic surgery, vascular access and intervention, orthopedics, body contouring, wound management, and ophthalmology.   

He is an accomplished engineer and inventor named on approximately eighty issued U.S. patents and pending applications as well as dozens of international patents, all in the medical device arena. His intellectual property has been referenced in over four thousand issued U.S. patents and pending patent applications.  He is frequently asked to speak on the topic of Medical Device Product Innovation and has developed corporate programs to identify and capture patentable inventions.  He has given expert testimony in the field of interventional cardiology devices in US courts and arbitrations and served as an expert witness to the High Court of Justice in the UK.  Dr. Hillstead has authored technical declarations for oppositions at the EPO and appeared before the EPO panel in The Hague. He has played a pivotal role in the development numerous, commercially successful medical devices, often from invention to commercialization. 

Dr. Hillstead holds a B.S. degree and an M.B.A. from Nova Southeastern University, and a PhD. from Southwest University.  He is a Fellow in the American Heart Association (FAHA) on the Council of Clinical Cardiology; Fellow on the Council on Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Metabolism; and a current member of the Stroke Council and the Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Council.  He has been a CPR instructor since 1980 and is currently BLS and ACLS certified by the American Heart Association.  He is the recipient of the 2019 Georgia Bio Industry Growth Award, the highest award bestowed in Georgia for medical device development. He holds an Extra Class Amateur Radio License (N4RAH) and is a deployable member of the Gwinnett County ARES emergency response team.  He resides in Jasper, Georgia. USA.