Stork Labs is developing a flexible, semi-autonomous operative vaginal delivery tool to help birthing people and babies stay safe during birth by enabling Obstetricians to avoid unplanned cesarean deliveries. The project is headed by two UC Santa Cruz Ph.D. students, Leya Breanna Baltaxe-Admony (Bre) and Maryam Tebyani.

Leya Breanna Baltaxe-Admony, Maryam Tebyani

The project dates back to 2017 when Maryam attended a medical device workshop at one of the world’s largest robotics conferences (IEEE IROS). The advancements demonstrated by the presenters inspired her, but the applications were mostly limited to endoscopic procedures. Thinking about her experiences as a woman in engineering, she realized there was a unique opportunity to improve technologies used in Women’s health. Particularly, she thought about childbirth deliveries and the potential to use advances from soft robotics to redesign operative vaginal delivery tools. Maryam and Bre discussed this idea in 2017 and decided to move forward with pursuing its development in 2022. Maryam’s expertise in soft robotics has informed device design objectives, and Bre’s expertise in human-computer interfaces and equitable design practices has informed potential tool usage in delivery rooms.

While Maryam and Bre focused on completing their doctoral studies to pursue this project after graduation, the United States plunged deeper into a maternity care crisis. The US spends over $65 billion per year in maternity care alone and yet ranks 56th in the world in terms of maternal mortality. Unplanned c-sections play a considerable role in these abysmal outcomes; they are major unplanned abdominal surgeries that nearly 1 in 3 people giving birth undergo. Compared to vaginal deliveries, they are riskier, require significantly more recovery time, and are less cost-effective. The rate of operative vaginal birth has decreased over the past few decades, accounting for part of the increase in cesarean birth rates in the United States.

Operative vaginal delivery tools (Obstetrical forceps and vacuums) can decrease unplanned c-section rates but often go unused due to their shortcomings. Forceps, invented in the 16th century, are associated with significant risks. These rigid tools demand a high skill level because of the high consequence of traumatic maternal/fetal injuries and subsequent litigation. Vacuums are easier to use but fail more frequently and can injure the fetal head.

Obstetricians must rely on their knowledge and the tools available to make decisions in response to atypical or abnormal fetal monitoring. Unfortunately, the tools available are inadequate. Stork Labs believes that developing an intuitive operative vaginal delivery (OVD) device that promotes user confidence through sensor feedback, flexibility, and sufficient mechanical traction will improve maternal/fetal outcomes and save hospital resources.

Stork Labs has developed a novel fabrication process that allows designers to create cable-driven soft robots more easily than ever before; they are ready for use after a single 3D print. Cable-driven articulated robots have made great strides in advancing the field of surgical robotics by providing dexterity, flexibility, and strength equal to or beyond a physician's hands or traditional medical tools. In combination with these advancements from biomedical cable-driven robots, their novel fabrication method creates the potential to give Obstetricians real-time feedback on correct tool placement, understand forces applied to the fetal head, and minimize maternal/fetal trauma during operative vaginal deliveries.

Stork Labs’ mission is based on learnings from participating in the National Science Foundation (NSF) Innovation Corps ($50k), which helped them validate a clinical need and develop a business model through 115+ Customer Discovery interviews. In October, they participated in the UCSF-Stanford Pediatric Device Consortium (PDC) Pitch Competition and were delighted to tie in 3rd place. The award includes funds for initial prototyping ($25k) and mentorship from PDC members. Recently, they officially welcomed their industry advisor, Jim Swick, who founded LyChron (a preclinical Contract Research Organization) and has helped over 200 products receive FDA approval. Jim brings 30+ years of experience developing medical devices; he frequented the Lane on West Cliff during his surfing days.

The team is heading into early prototyping and is forming relationships with Obstetricians and companies they met through the Mike Harrison Innovation Symposium to apply for non-dilutive funds from the NSF.

Maryam Tebyani, Leya Breanna Baltaxe-Admony, Jim Swick

Maryam has a Robotics Engineering B.S. from UCSC and is in the 5th year of her Ph.D. program in Electrical and Computer Engineering with an emphasis on Robotics & Control; her research focuses on flexible, autonomous system design for robotics and bioengineering. Bre has a Computer Engineering B.S. from UCSC and is in the 5th year of her Ph.D. program in Computational Media; her research focuses on human-centered technology design. They enjoy spending time outdoors, climbing, and playing board games together. Stay updated at: https://www.stork-labs.com/

Stork Labs Semi-Autonomous Birth Tool