We help entrepreneurs bridge the gap from technical innovation to clinical application.
Clinical | Engineering | Product Strategy Consulting
Let’s build your competitive edge through clinical product-market fit.
We Partner with Healthcare Trailblazers:
Our clients are entrepreneurs with game-changing ideas, growth-stage companies seeking market traction, and universities aiming to commercialize research.
We Understand the Medtech Startup Challenge:
The best medical products are tailored to the needs in the clinical environment, but in the world of fast-paced startups this can be difficult to achieve. Startups have limited teams and need to move quickly, often at the expense of thorough clinical market re. Without an integrated view of clinical, engineering, and product strategy, entrepreneurs may end up pitching products that miss the mark in clinical settings, companies may invest heavily in features that fail to resonate with end-users, and universities may struggle to transfer promising research to industry.
We Offer a Bridge to Clinical Adoption:
We’re the dedicated “clinical engineering bridge” that helps our clients ensure their technical innovation will resonate in clinical settings. Our expertise in honing product-market fit accelerates clinical adoption and gives our clients a decisive competitive edge within the crowded medtech landscape.
FEATURED CASE STUDY
From Garage Prototype to Pilot-Ready Beta: Gravitrex
See how CPI helped Gravitrex translate physical therapy workflow insights into product requirements, support beta development, and strengthen pilot and partner conversations.
Beyond Silos
CPI connects clinical reality, engineering choices, and product strategy so teams can make more confident early product decisions, reduce avoidable rework, and strengthen the path to clinical adoption. Here’s how:
Clinical
Clarify the unmet need, target users, workflow, and stakeholder value through clinical observation, interviews, and use-case analysis.
Engineering
Translate clinical and workflow findings into product requirements, design priorities, usability considerations, and technical tradeoffs for complex, workflow-sensitive products.
Particular depth in medical imaging, interventional systems, gait rehabilitation, oncology, and digital or AI-enabled solutions.
Product Strategy
Connect use case, evidence needs, pilot planning, and market focus so the next product decision reflects both clinical fit and business value.
Meet the Founder
Emma Essock-Burns, PhD
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Dr. Essock-Burns is a clinical product development leader who specializes in applying the Stanford Biodesign Innovation process to realize product-market fit in the medical imaging, digital surgery, mobility, and oncology space. She is passionate about developing user-centric products that harness data to guide patient treatment.
Her experience in Clinical Engineering encompasses leadership roles at several early- and growth-stage startups, notably Verb Surgical (Acq. JNJ), ViewRay, AlterG (Acq. ReWalk), and Ziteo Medical.
Dr. Essock-Burns is an Assistant Director of the Stanford Biodesign Innovation Fellowship program. She is also an advisor for several university programs, including the Texas MD Anderson Biodesign Program, UCSF AI-Powered Innovation, and the Emory Biofoundry Institute.
She holds a Ph.D. from UCSF/UC Berkeley's Joint Graduate Group in Bioengineering, focused in MRI and neuro-oncology, and a B.S. from Johns Hopkins in Biomedical Engineering. She is currently pursuing an MBA at Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business.
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I’ve built my career at the intersection of clinical unmet needs and technical engineering. I thrive when stepping into the opaque, amorphous, “must-be-solved-now-but-how” problems that startups often face during medical device development. The complexity of translational science, the power of diverse teams, and the energy of coaching are why I find helping my clients with these challenges so compelling.
My vision for Clinical Product Insights is to build a network of talented, cross-functional Clinical Engineers who can partner with our exciting startup clients to accelerate patient-centric innovation.
Fantastic medtech startups and programs are partnering with us to boost innovation.
