# Pros & Cons of Being a Physician turned MedTech Inventor

- Show: [Global Medical Device Podcast](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/global-medical-device-podcast)
- Published: 2021-04-13
- Length: 49m
- Episode: 195
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/global-medical-device-podcast/2021-04-13-pros-cons-of-being-a-physician-turned-medtech-inventor
- Listen: https://podcast.greenlight.guru/episode/pros-cons-of-being-a-physician-turned-medtech-inventor

## Summary

Dr. Amy Baxter, CEO and founder of Pain Care Labs, discusses her journey from emergency physician to MedTech inventor, detailing the creation of Buzzy® and VibraCool® devices to manage pain without opioids. She explains how her clinical observations led to combining cold therapy with mechanical stimulation, navigating the rigorous ISO 13485 regulatory process and securing NIH SBIR funding to bring the products to market. Baxter advises physician inventors to fall in love with the problem rather than the solution, emphasizing the importance of understanding regulatory pathways, branding, and avoiding unnecessary NDAs. The episode highlights the specific challenges of developing pain management devices, including subjective efficacy metrics and the long timeline from prototype to commercial launch.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/global-medical-device-podcast/2021-04-13-pros-cons-of-being-a-physician-turned-medtech-inventor#t=0) Introduction: Dr. Amy Baxter and Pain Care Labs
- [2:14](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/global-medical-device-podcast/2021-04-13-pros-cons-of-being-a-physician-turned-medtech-inventor#t=134) The Physician Inventor Mindset and ISO 13485 Frustrations
- [6:43](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/global-medical-device-podcast/2021-04-13-pros-cons-of-being-a-physician-turned-medtech-inventor#t=403) The Origin of Buzzy®: Combining Cold and Vibration
- [13:09](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/global-medical-device-podcast/2021-04-13-pros-cons-of-being-a-physician-turned-medtech-inventor#t=789) Pain Management, Opioids, and Clinical Validation
- [21:27](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/global-medical-device-podcast/2021-04-13-pros-cons-of-being-a-physician-turned-medtech-inventor#t=1287) Advice for Inventors: Navigation, Branding, and NDAs
- [33:08](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/global-medical-device-podcast/2021-04-13-pros-cons-of-being-a-physician-turned-medtech-inventor#t=1988) Dr. Richard Melker and the Melker Emergency Cricothyroidotomy Catheter
- [44:14](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/global-medical-device-podcast/2021-04-13-pros-cons-of-being-a-physician-turned-medtech-inventor#t=2654) The Future of Pain Management and NIH SBIR Funding

## Topics

- [Medical & health devices](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/medical-devices)
- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Certification & compliance](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/certification-and-compliance)
- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Pain Care Labs (company)
- Buzzy (product)
- VibraCool (product)
- Greenlight Guru (company)
- GCMI (company)
- Mayday Foundation (company)
- Shark Tank (other)
- NIH (company)
- Cook (company)
- Melker Emergency Cricothyroidotomy Catheter (product)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [023 - "The Best is Yet to Come" with David Albert](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/lets-combinate/2022-03-09-023-the-best-is-yet-to-come-with-david-albert) (Let's Combinate)
- [S6E19 Stuart Grant | MedTech Innovation](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2025-05-09-s6e19-stuart-grant-medtech-innovation) (Being an Engineer)
- [S7E22 Amelia Howe | Developing Medical Device Injectrodes for Pain Reduction, & Project Management Best Practices](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2026-05-22-s7e22-amelia-howe-developing-medical-device-injectrodes-for-pain-reduction-proje) (Being an Engineer)
- [Etienne Nichols | How to Become a MedTech Engineer](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2023-03-24-etienne-nichols-how-to-become-a-medtech-engineer) (Being an Engineer)
- [S2E40 Voice of the Customer, Using Questions, and the Technology Adoption Life Cycle Curve | Ted Newill](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2021-09-17-s2e40-voice-of-the-customer-using-questions-and-the-technology-adoption-life-cyc) (Being an Engineer)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/global-medical-device-podcast/2021-04-13-pros-cons-of-being-a-physician-turned-medtech-inventor. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Global Medical Device Podcast.