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The Doctor Is In(venting)
Toolmaker/physician Deslauriers used his voc-tech training as a springboard to success in medicine
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Business New Haven
5/31/1999
By: BNH
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Innovation requires collaboration, and medical-device inventor Richard J. Deslauriers suggests that his vocational-technical high school education, combined with a medical degree, bridges the gap between medicine and engineering.
“My voc-tech degree has been a great asset in designing products that serve physicians and patients better and in getting those products to market,” says Deslauriers, president of Doctor's Research Group in Wolcott.
As a boy, Deslauriers estimates that he repaired more than 100 washing machines, dryers, dishwashers and other appliances for family members and friends - and that was before he attended W.F. Kaynor Regional Vocational-Technical School in Waterbury.
“I always had a great interest in how devices worked,” he recalls. He says that he was not a poor student, but recalls his former tool-and-die instructor describing him as having a “flair for fun.” He tinkered with machines, but also played volleyball and enjoyed skiing.
“I enjoyed my freedom,” explains Deslauriers.
Deslauriers says he always wanted to go to Kaynor, and graduated in 1985 from the tool-and-die program. He was immediately hired by Johnson & Johnson, where he built equipment for medical devices, including a protective IV catheter with high-speed automation. While working full-time, he studied mechanical engineering at the University of New Haven.
Deslauriers' curiosity extended to physiology and human anatomy, as he wondered how the kidney could filter so much blood without clogging and how the heart could beat so much without stopping.
Later, he enrolled in the University of Toronto Medical School, with its renown research and development program. He was graduated in June 1997.
He's become accustomed to colleagues expressing surprise at his background - surprise sometimes tinged with envy. “Not a lot of toolmakers apply to medical school,” says Deslauriers with a laugh.
“I have colleagues, physicians and surgeons, who say if they had to do it all over, they would go to a technical school. There's not a lot of people in the field who know what truly goes into the manufacture of medical devices.”
Deslauriers works with two of his high-school classmates, Lee Duprey and Don Mellanson, both of whom earned degrees in mechanical engineering following high school. “Their experience bridges the gap between engineering and manufacturing,” says Deslauriers.
The three men all studied under Frank Zello, who still teaches at Kaynor. Up to 25 former students still visit him each week, but Zello recalls Deslauriers' work. “He was the type of student who would not take no for an answer,” says Zello. “He was always seeking an avenue for a solution.”
Deslauriers remains active at Kaynor, giving talks and serving on the manufacturing technology craft committee.
Doctor's Research Group has five patents on its inventions:
• Released in May, the Echoplus digital signal processing stethoscope allows doctors to record heartbeats and preserve them for comparisons during future patient visits. Physicians can also slow or speed recordings to better observe patterns.
• The only combination bone screw and suture anchor system, Sherlock, which reduces time in the operating room.
• The Piranha self-drilling bone screw.
• The Lockjaw 15-minute intermaxillary fixation system, a flexible direct bonding arch bar, for use in open-mouth surgery, which reduces operating-room time and reduces exposure to infection.
• The Hummer combination reflex hammer and tuning fork.
The company's Web page address is www.doctorsresearchgroup.com.
- S.F.
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