Iapyx Story

In 1996, Clifford Wright, a biomedical engineer at Sharp Memorial Hospital, started Medical Device Group (MDG). Having repaired medical devices and trained hospital staff how to use them, Mr. Wright understood the importance of good design. In fact, he had imagined countless devices to address the needs of the healthcare workers he knew so well. The first idea he took from imagination to drawing to tangible product was a holster for Yankauer wands, which are often placed under patients' pillows between uses. Understanding the significance of hospital-acquired infections (nosocomial infections) and the need for a simple, convenient, and effective way to isolate and contain contaminated suction wands, Mr. Wright invented a holster and bed rail clip.

In 2005, Mr. Wright invited the Tavistock Group to invest in MDG.  The influx of cash allowed MDG to build a larger team of engineers, product managers, and business development professionals. Then, in 2006, MDG changed its name to Iapyx Medical.  The new name placed greater emphasis the company's focus: medical devices designed to reduce hospital-acquired infections.

The Name Iapyx

Iapyx is a wound healer and battlefield surgeon from Greek and Roman mythology and the first character in Western literature credited with practicing infection control.

In The Aeneid, the epic of the Roman poet Virgil, Iapyx is summoned to remove an arrowhead from the hero Aeneas's leg.  Unable to remove the arrow, he applies Diktamon to the wound. Diktamon flowers and leaves were used as a medicinal herb in ancient Greece, and the "dried plant was used as a haemostyptic and anti-infectious powder," according to the Surgical Infection Society .

In fact, the Surgical Infection Society European Congress chose an Italian fresco of Iapyx for its 2006 meeting in Athens, Greece (right).

According to the Roman poet Virgil, Iapyx was a favorite of the god Apollo. Apollo "had freely offered [Iapyx] his own arts and his own powers, [including] prophecy, the lyre, and his swift archery." But Iapyx refused Apollo's offer and instead asked "to know the potencies of herbs, and the practice of the healing, and to ply this quiet art, resigning fame." The reason he chose medicine over fame was that he hoped to heal his dying father.