![\"3D](\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Option-A-1024x791.jpg\")
\n![\"Blythe](\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Blythe-Karow-214x300.jpg\")
In a 10-person proof-of-concept study, Karow says 90% responded to the treatment, and those users saw a 21-point average reduction in the severity of their PTSD symptoms. In July, the Phoenix became part of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration\u2019s Breakthrough Devices Program, a designation for devices that provide better treatments for serious conditions and that is meant to speed up its development and review process. The device could be available to the public as early as 2023, Karow says, and reimbursement could be accelerated, depending on forthcoming rulings by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.<\/p>\n
The granddaughter of a research pharmacist, Karow realized at Johns Hopkins that she wasn\u2019t meant for the laboratory. In her third year, she landed a pivotal internship at Medtronic, a global medical technology firm, which sent her down the path of medical device development.<\/p>\n
Karow says she thrives on understanding and addressing her customers\u2019 pain points. \u201cA lot of people think, \u2018If you build it, they will come,\u2019\u201d she says. \u201cBut I\u2019m very focused on human-centered design.\u201d<\/p>\n
After earning her master\u2019s degree in business administration from the University of Virginia and working with and consulting for startups and major medical device companies, Karow moved home to Gainesville, Florida, in 2017. She connected with her co-founder, serial entrepreneur Weaver Gaines, and together they met University of Florida scientists who were researching the use of vagal nerve stimulation for PTSD.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was like, \u2018Hold up, I know PTSD,\u2019\u201d Karow says. \u201cI come from a very long tradition of military service. I know there\u2019s a great need.\u201d Soon after, those scientists joined Karow and Gaines to become Evren\u2019s co-founders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Blythe Karow \u201902, co-founder and CEO of Evren Technologies, has developed a medical device to treat PTSD by boosting the parasympathetic response to put the user in a more relaxed state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":16013,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","issue-winter-2022"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n