AdvaMed and MedTech Innovator name 2026 prize winners and finalists

Device developers took home awards and funding from AdvaMed’s October 2026 MedTech Conference in Boston, including the grand prize winner of MedTech Innovator’s annual startup competition.

Feminai, the maker of an at-home, self-performed breast exam employing a wearable sensor patch, received a $350,000 funding award through MedTech Innovator, which this year narrowed down a cohort of dozens of early-stage companies to four finalists.

“We founded Feminai with a bold vision: to make breast health accessible to every woman, wherever she is,” Feminai co-founder and CEO Karny Ilan said in a news release. “This recognition brings us one step closer to a future where every woman can take control of her breast health, on her own terms.”

The winner was selected by an audience vote after they delivered their pitches on stage and answered questions from an industry panel.

Other nominees included: Galenband, with its upper-arm wearable ECG recorder capable of lasting up to 90 days; Urologic Health, developer of a noninvasive system for monitoring bladder pressure, volume and flow; and Vivifi Medical, for an outpatient, non-surgical procedure to address an enlarged prostate. Each finalist received $25,000.

In addition, GenesisTissue and Imagine Devices won Best Video Awards and $5,000 each for what MedTech Innovator described as creative and compelling medtech storytelling. Genesis Tissue is working on a 3D bioprinting approach for regenerative implants, while Imagine Devices focuses on neonatal intensive care.

“Feminai’s win shows that sophisticated medtech industry leaders recognize the value proposition of bringing clinically meaningful breast cancer screening into women’s homes through a wearable sensor patch and AI-driven analysis,” said MedTech Innovator founder and CEO Paul Grand. “Each of our finalists demonstrated the remarkable innovation happening across the medtech ecosystem and we are proud to support them.”

Feminai is conducting a pilot study for its wearable breast scanner, which takes five-minute thermal and electrical impedance readings to track changes in breast tissue composition over time. It is not meant to replace mammograms or MRIs for cancer screening.

Elsewhere at The MedTech Conference, PolyVascular received the 2026 AdvaMed Accel Virginia Shimer Rybski Memorial Award, with a $15,000 cash prize supported by Medmarc. The company is developing an expandable, transcatheter pulmonary valve system for young children with congenital heart disease.

At the Pitch & Pour Start-Up Pitch Competition’s focus on military health applications, Omedus won $7,500 for its TRIAGE360 wearable sensor system for prioritizing emergency responses. That contest was sponsored by the Maryland Department of Commerce, Medmarc and the Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium.

The conference’s People’s Choice Award was split between GenAssist and CranioSense. GenAssist is working on biomaterials for regrowing skeletal muscle, while CranioSense is developing a device to detect pressure inside the skull without an invasive procedure.

“The emerging growth companies recognized at this year’s conference demonstrate the ingenuity and entrepreneurship that drives our industry,” said JC Scott, AdvaMed’s chief strategy officer and executive director of AdvaMed Accel, its division for small companies and startups. “We congratulate them and remain focused on helping them and more innovators secure the expertise, investment, and partnerships they need to move their ideas forward to impact patients.”

And at the conference’s 13th annual Symposium on Pediatric Device Innovation, five developers took home gold, silver and bronze awards.

Altra and Cerulean Scientific placed first, with each awarded $75,000. Altra is developing a portable dual-chamber infusion pump, while Cerulean is working on a drug-free anti-fouling coating for indwelling devices and implants.

Silver prize ($50,000) recipients were Bloom Standard and its RAPIDscan automated-sweep ultrasound system, and Maguro Surgical with its MagStone kidney stone fragment retrieval system.

AcQumen Medical received the bronze and $25,000, for its UltraTrac noninvasive hemodynamic monitor.

We’ll have more from the Symposium on Pediatric Device Innovation at MDO soon, including details on the pitch winners and advice shared by FDA Total Product Life Cycle Advisory Program (TAP) leader April Marrone with MDO Managing Editor Jim Hammerand in the closing keynote interview.