About Us · History
Cortina Medical Devices LLC was founded with a socially responsible vision. The main goal of our company is to develop low cost medical technology for those who need it most. We focus on respiratory care. Respiratory diseases are among the leading causes of death and disability in the world. This is particularly true in low resource settings. The poor lack access to respiratory healthcare and technology and are often left to die without treatment.
In low resource settings, even electricity is often not available. Cortina Medical Devices. Are designed for these settings. We specialize in respiratory technologies that can operate in places without reliable electricity,
Our Company’s motto is “Life and Breath for the Poor.” Our devices are made to help the poor around the world breath easier.
The Beginning
The idea Cortina Medical Devices occurred around 2003 when Dr. Lars Olson, the founder of our company, was a chaperone on college immersion trips to Central America. On those trips, he saw people waiting in long lines at clinics to get respiratory care. Some had already travelled hours from their villages, villages where electricity was unreliable. Also on one of these trips in Guarjila, El Salvador, Dr. Olson met Fr. Jon Cortina, a Spanish Jesuit priest and engineering professor. Fr. Cortina’s dedication to improving the lives of the poor was an inspiration to Dr. Olson to make healthcare technology that would work in low resource settings. That is why our company is named after Fr. Cortina.
One of the busiest places in many of the clinics we have visited has been the nebulization room. Nebulizers provide aerosolized treatment without the need for patient training and at a lower cost than inhalers. For this reason we embarked on making a human powered nebulizer. We have made several different versions: one based on a bicycle, another hand-cranked device. Our human powered nebulizers have been studied in two clinical trials—one in South Africa and another in El Salvador—with another one beginning soon in Guatemala. They have also been deployed in one field test with community health workers in rural El Salvador and another one will begin soon in Guatemala.
Nebulizers are a single platform for many activities. They can be used for treatment, diagnosis and prevention. Treating COPD, Asthma, and respiratory infections using nebulizers is a well-established strategy with some intriguing new treatment options as well. In the diagnosis of TB, the microsopic smear test is still the affirmative gold standard. Nebulizers help patients produce better samples for TB diagnosis. Also, aerosolized vaccines have the potential to provide superior immunity to people throughout the world with no needles.
Our nebulizer designs have been proven to be safe and effective in treatment and diagnosis in the field. Our current design is now the smallest and easiest to use of any of them. Throughout our whole design process, we have listened to healthcare workers and community members. That collaborative work has come up with a cost-effective nebulizer that can be used anywhere in the world, especially where people need it most, rural areas far from clinics.
Our CortinaNeb is just the first of many products we have in the pipeline. Our plan is to provide life and breath to the poor in every way we can find.