Game-changer Competition

Rules and Regulations

The entry must be an original work from the participant(s).
Only one entry is allowed for each participant.
The entry must not violate third party intellectual property rights, contractual obligations, or local law.
All entries should address the followings:
1. The clinical problem or need the innovation tries to address
2. The concept of innovation and how it works
3. Feasibility and usability for clinical application
4. Scalability and sustainability
Patient data are not necessary during submission but entries with real-world data will be rated more favourably by the judges.
All entries must be submitted via the online submission system on the conference website on or before 30 October 2021.
An abstract about the innovation should be submitted in English in no more than 350 words (Not including title, authors and affiliations).
The abstract must include the complete first name, family name, title, affiliated institution, country, and email address of every participant. One participant should be designated as the presenter of the entry.
The abstract must be structured as follows: Clinical problem or need; the concept of innovation and how it works; feasibility and usability for clinical application; scalability and sustainability.
You can upload a video not longer than 2 minutes with the abstract to illustrate your innovation. During submission, only one table and one figure are allowed per each entry (more tables and figures are allowed after acceptance during oral presentation).
Do not include any bibliographic references.
For all abbreviations used, spell the name in full when they are first mentioned, followed by the abbreviation in parenthesis.
Use SI units for all measurements.
Participants must specify any relationship (employment, consulting, fees, conference fees, classes, courses, commercial shares or copyright) they may have with any organization with direct or indirect financial interest on the topic or the materials dealt within the presentation. If there were a conflict of interest, authors must declare during submission.
Accepted entries are eligible for presentation after receiving full registration fee from the presenting participant. If registration fee of the presenter is not received by 30 November 2021, the entry is assumed to have been withdrawn.
The submission should be carefully proof-read by the participants. Individual participants are responsible for the accuracy of the information supplied, as accepted abstracts will be printed or showcased in the Conference publication materials. Once the abstract is submitted, no changes are allowed.
All entries will undergo double-blind peer review. Only those entries judged to be of high quality and relevance will be accepted for oral presentation. Acceptance notification will be sent to the submitting author with further instructions.
Failure to comply with these requirements will exclude the entry from consideration.
Judges’ decisions are final and are not subject to review.

Notification of Acceptance
Notification of receipt and acceptance, and all additional correspondence will be conducted via email with the submitting participant.
Submitting participants will be notified no later than 15 November 2021 whether their entry has been accepted for oral presentation in the Game-changer competition.
The exact schedule of the presentation will be communicated to the presenting participant on or before 1 December 2021.

Game-changer Competition Prizes

Winner – USD $500
First runner up – USD $400

Marking Rubrics
Originality 50%
Clinical applications – feasibility and usability for clinical use 15%
Clinical impacts – scalability and sustainability 15%
Presentation – 20%

Example
Note: This example is fabricated to illustrate the format and content required for submission to the Game-changer competition. The ‘Aerosol Box’ mentioned in this example was first reported by Dr Lai Hsien-Yung in Taiwan^1,2 and all the credits should go to the inventor of the box. The participants should take note that bibliographic references are not required during submission. They are stated here such that the participants can refer to the original source of information.

References

Tseng JY, Lai HY. Protecting against COVID-19 aerosol infection during intubation. J Chin Med Assoc. 2020 Jun;83(6):582. doi: 10.1097/JCMA.0000000000000324. PMID: 32304507; PMCID: PMC7199771.
Canellli R, Connor CW, Gonzalez M, Nozari A, Ortega R. Barrier enclosure during endotracheal intubation. N Engl J Med 2020 May 14;382(20):1957-1958. Doi:10.1056/NEJMc2007589.

Clinical problem or need
Endotracheal intubation is recognized as a high-risk aerosol-generating procedure that poses a significant risk to healthcare workers in the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, especially when access to personal protective equipment (PPE) is limited. We describe a barrier-enclosure device, the ‘Aerosol Box’, which can help protect healthcare workers during the procedure.

The concept of innovation and how it works
The ‘Aerosol Box’ is made of transparent acrylic plastic sheet as shown in Figure 1. It has two circular access ports through which the laryngoscopist can pass his hands and perform endotracheal intubation inside the box. The box should cover the patient’s head during the procedure. It works by limiting the spread of aerosols and droplets outside the box. To further reduce the spread, the access holes can be covered with adhesive tapes to maintain a good seal between the edge of access holes and the operator’s arms and a surgical drape can be taped to the caudal end of the box to cover the patient’s torso.

Feasibility and usability
We have performed a simulation study on an adult manikin to evaluate the concept. We found that most laryngoscopists could intubate the manikin using videolaryngoscope but the intubation time was slightly longer compared with intubations without the box. Most laryngoscopists in the simulation study rated the ‘Aerosol Box’ positively in terms of usability and indicated their preference of using the box in future intubations that involve patients with COVID-19 (It would be better if the participants can provide some data to demonstrate feasibility and usability of the innovation).

Scalability and sustainability
The ‘Aerosol Box’ can be mass-produced by non-medical commercial companies that specialise in acyclic plastic at a low cost (USD $67 per unit). Therefore, it has a good scalability even in resource-poor settings. The aerosol box can also be cleaned with 70% alcohol or bleach after use, making it reusable and a sustainable solution to the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Figure 1. The aerosol box