Medical research and training business expands to Chattanooga with new lab facility

The headline of this story was updated at 9:04 a.m. on Thursday, Mar. 3, 2022, to clarify the location of the facility.

Axis Research & Technologies, an Irvine, California-based company that helps develop research and training programs by medical device makers and other health care providers, has expanded into Chattanooga with an 11,000-square-foot office on McCallie Avenue.

Nick Moran, who helped start the medical software and training company in California seven years, said Wednesday that Axis’ new two-story location at 1308 McCallie Ave. is ideally positioned to serve the hospital sector in and surrounding Chattanooga.

“Chattanooga is a centralized hub for the hospital sector and is recognized as a thriving center for health care innovation, clinical research and medical device manufacturing,” Moran said in an announcement of the new Chattanooga office. “We are committed to supporting the pioneering work being done in the area, providing a first-class, customer service-oriented facility where medical device companies can evaluate product effectiveness while companies, hospital staff and educators can demonstrate procedures, enhance practical skills and improve potential patient outcomes.”

The Chattanooga facility is the fourth for Axis and will supplement similar labs and training facilities in Nashville; Irvine, California; and Columbus, Maryland, a Baltimore suburb. The turnkey lab is built for the needs of hospital groups, surgeons, training organizations and medical device research companies that will pay to use the cadaver labs, classrooms and medical labs for both research and training.

Axis Chattanooga features fully equipped surgical suites, a large main lab, fully configurable multi-purpose rooms for didactic training and dry labs in a facility equipped as a tele-training platform for audio/visual, broadcasting, recording and live streaming. Axis works with clients like Edwards Lifesciences, Medtronic, Atricure and Stryker, among others

“We supply them with everything they need in order to conduct their research and development, and during the development of our company, we realized we can work with them on a technology component to help our clients,” Jill Goodwin, chief operating officer of Axis, said in an interview Wednesday, “Right now, we’re working on intellectual property that we think will not only be a game-changer for our clients, but also in the hospital sector.”

Axis provides staffing and facilities for clients to focus on their medical education, symposium or surgical training, including cadavers for training and testing of medical devices. Available services include tissue sourcing, specimen preparation, equipment readiness and room configuration. Catering and other on-site custom needs are also offered.

Moran said Axis is set up to be more nimble and offer more immediate support for research and training than most universities or hospitals might offer for new medical devices.

Dr. Mark G. Freeman, a Chattanooga orthopedist who initially was an Axis client, later collaborated with the company as its chief medical advisor and helped bring the new facility to Chattanooga.

“I attended a surgical education and R&D [research and development] lab at Axis’ Irvine facility and knew right away that I wanted to bring this much-needed experience to the Chattanooga region’s established and growing medical education and technology sector,” Freeman said in a statement. “Axis truly understands the importance of time, travel and convenience for clients from around the country and across the globe, and their commitment to the highest quality at high efficiency means better value for vendors and visitors.”

The Chattanooga office will have only three full-time Axis employees, but it should house a variety of users. Goodwin said Axis “is focused on concierge service to meet the specialized needs of their clients, and the company is not planning to add more facilities in the near future.

The first lab client is expected to use the facility Thursday, and ultimately, Moran said he expects the Axis lab will draw users from around the globe as its other Axis facilities already have in other cities.

Moran said the “smart operating room” will make it possible to monitor and document every aspect of a procedure, along with all activities in the surrounding environment as they unfold.

Axis is collaborating with Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and BDO’s Digital and Healthcare Division on the development of an intelligent system and smart operating suite, including the OMNImed SmartOR to leverage the latest in artificial intelligence, machine learning, Internet of Things and computer vision, Moran said.

Contact Dave Flessner at [email protected] or at 423-757-6340.