Medline has been named one of the winners of the 23^rd annual Chicago Innovation Awards for its newest addition to the company’s advanced wound care portfolio, OptiView® Transparent Dressing with HydroCore™ Technology.

The Chicago Innovation Awards are the Chicago region’s foremost recognition of the most innovative new products or services brought to market each year. Medline was one of just 20 innovators honored at this year’s event, which took place Thursday night at the UIC Forum.

“Medline is honored to receive an innovation award in our home market,” said Bruce Shapiro, vice president of product management for Medline advanced wound care. “Everything we do is focused on providing healthcare providers with solutions to provide high-quality patient care. The feedback we received from nurses nationwide helped us take their insights to create a clinically effective solution for pressure injury prevention. OptiView is an exciting addition to our portfolio.”

Hospital-acquired pressure injuries are a financial burden on healthcare systems, with treatment costs ranging from $3 billion to $11 billion annually. Traditional routine skin assessments in the hospital require clinicians to remove the wound dressing multiple times per day, putting additional stress on the dressing’s adhesive and the patient’s underlying skin.

Medline introduced OptiView to empower caregivers to spot skin texture, color variances and early signs of breakdown without lifting the dressing. Its innovative, clear island allows for immediate visibility of the underlying skin, while the HydroCore Technology uses a gel center to help redistribute pressure and draw heat away from the skin to create a cooling effect.

“We’re proud to award Medline’s OptiView with a 2024 Chicago Innovation Award,” said Luke Tanen, president and CEO of Chicago Innovation, the organization behind the awards and other events and activities that celebrate innovation in the Chicago region throughout the year. “This first-of-its-kind product is creating new value for caregivers, and never before has a product addressed such an unmet need in wound care. We applaud Medline for its commitment creating this innovative solution that is bringing a positive impact to the healthcare industry.”

Tom Kuczmarski, co-founder of the awards with Chicago journalist Dan Miller, said the Chicago region “continues to be a global leader in innovation.”

“The 2024 winners are solving unmet needs and making a difference in healthcare, finance, the environment, artificial intelligence, education, consumer products, energy, manufacturing, social services, economic development, food and government,” Kuczmarski said.

Learn more about OptiView, and see the complete list of this year’s Chicago Innovation Award winners.