Ally Reichart '18: Co-Founder of CatheSure

What happens when your college capstone project becomes more than just a resume builder? Just Ask Ally Reichart ’18: STEM Trailblazer, Entrepreneur, and Co-Founder of CatheSure. In April, 2022, Ally Reichart was one member of an all-female team from Clemson University who participated in the Atlantic Coast Conference InVenture Prize contest. The InVenture Prize is an innovation competition in which teams of undergraduates representing each ACC university pitch their inventions or businesses before a live audience and a panel of judges. Teams compete for $30,000 in prizes and a chance to be the next ACC InVenture Prize winner. Reichart’s entry into the competition was actually something of a lark. Several weeks earlier, she had received an email that was sent to Clemson’s schools of engineering, computing, and applied sciences to enter an entirely different competition, the winner of which would then be entered into the ACC InVenture contest. “We entered the competition for practice and maybe some feedback, since making a pitch was a class requirement. We thought it might be beneficial to get feedback from someone other than our professor,” Reichart said. “We had no idea we would win. I remember screaming ‘NO WAY’ when they announced us as first place!” she exclaimed. That very night, Reichart’s team began working on their submission for the ACC InVenture Competition, since they had less than two weeks to prepare for the competition. Their submitted project actually began months earlier as a senior design/capstone project, whereby every senior participated on a team to develop a novel medical device idea - taking it from concept, to design, to prototype. Reichart’s group came together by chance, with two pairs of friends joining together to form a team. “We decided to go ‘full girl power’ with an all-female team,” Reichart added. With the task of creating an entire medical device lifecycle simulation at hand, the group began by identifying a need within the medical field. “We all had a passion for pediatrics and neurosurgery, so we began looking into epilepsy, but just didn’t find anything that we felt we could make a tangible difference with given our knowledge and the scope of the class,” Reichart noted. The team was then introduced to Dr. Chris Troup, Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Prisma Health in South Carolina, who ultimately became their clinical collaborator. “We brought up hydrocephalus as a potential problem area, and he could not begin to describe how horrible diagnosing shunt malfunctions were,” Reichart commented. Hydrocephalus is the buildup of fluid within the brain’s ventricles. It affects patients of all ages, including one in 500 children worldwide, and is typically treated with a ventriculoperitoneal shunt. However, shunt malfunctions are frequent, extremely difficult to detect, and life-threatening if not treated promptly. After a great deal of research and interaction with their professors and Dr. Troup, the group decided to create a device that can confirm a shunt malfunction in hydrocephalus patients. The team now needed to choose a name for their device. Since doctors needed a way to be sure there was a blockage in the catheter, the name “CatheSure” was born. It is the first device that non-invasively and wirelessly detects ventriculoperitoneal shunt failures. Rapid, cost-effective, and easy to use, it is integrated with an existing shunt and lasts the entire lifetime of the shunt, without requiring battery replacement or wi-fi access. “We knew it was definitely going to be a challenge given the need for a lot of software and new technology, but we were determined to pursue working on this specific need since it just seemed like a huge gap in the medical field,” Reichart observed. With a device prototype in hand, Reichart’s team entered the InVenture Prize competition with hopes of winning the people’s choice award. “When we didn’t win the people’s choice award, we were pretty crushed. Then they announced we won second place. That’s when it settled in that we have something really special that people beyond our team could believe in,” Reichart suggested. Her team placed second out of 15 ACC teams and won $10,000 to continue developing the CatheSure. From that moment on, Reichart saw CatheSure as something more than just a school project and focused on making it a product that would be available on the market someday. The CatheSure has now accumulated a staggering $35,500 in prize money from a variety of entrepreneurial contests. Three of the original members (including Rechart) are currently working on the device as a part of master’s degree programs where they are able to focus on iterating the design and making improvements wherever possible. “We are currently working to file a provisional patent, since one of the awards at the most recent competition (The Collegiate Inventors Competition) was patent acceleration,” Reichart reported. Once a full patent has been filed, Reichart can begin to advertise the device to shunt manufacturers in order to begin a partnership and work towards FDA clearance. The team is also currently working on trademarking the name so it can legally be referred to as CatheSure™. “I know that my teammates and I are more determined than ever to get it to market - to the point that we have our path to market timeline and are already on schedule,” Reichart said, adding, “since it is a Class II medical device that requires clinical trials, it is longer than some might expect. But by 2026 it should be on the market, barring no crazy life altering events.” Reichart credits her experiences at Incarnate Word Academy for preparing her for her current career. “My volleyball coaches in high school gave me a ‘never ever give up’ mentality that has definitely contributed to the CatheSure and its success,” Reichart recalled. “My years on student council also gave me the public speaking and leadership skills necessary for working on projects and teams, and being able to present ideas effectively to others,” she added. When asked about the pros and cons of choosing a STEM career field, Reichart has some advice for current and future IWA students. “First of all, get comfortable being judged right off the bat for being a woman. If you don’t know what that’s like yet, you will learn. But if you believe in yourself, no one can stop you!” Reichart exclaimed. “Also, get used to not getting A’s! Someone who is truly successful in STEM actually understands and is able to apply the information they learn, and it’s not necessarily the person who has a 4.0 GPA.” Reichart cautions against believing in some of the myths associated with STEM careers. “A common misconception with STEM fields is that you sacrifice your creativity, and that is SO not true. I have found more creative ideas and methodologies in STEM than I did in many of my other college classes!” Ally Reichart is currently pursuing a master’s degree in biomedical engineering with a certificate in quality science at Clemson University while continuing development of the CatheSure device. She is also employed as a Medical Device Quality Engineer at Rook Quality Systems, a virtual consulting company. “Right now, my schedule consists of working a 9-5 job at RookQS. In the evenings I work on CatheSure, and on Sundays I do my ‘student’ work since most of my classes are online. I know that sounds like a lot, but thanks to that good ole modular schedule at IWA, I have great time management skills and I still get to have fun, socialize, and even travel!”