New options for patients who need them.
BlueHealer is developing a medical device for tibial transverse bone transport (TTT) — giving patients facing amputation a new path forward.
Our mission
“BlueHealer's mission is to give patients facing limb loss a new path to healing — restoring perfusion, preserving limbs, and helping them reclaim life beyond chronic wounds.”
We are a Johns Hopkins CBID spin-out focused on translating an emerging therapeutic concept into a more accessible, surgically familiar, and patient-centered device platform for complex limb salvage care.
The problem
Too many patients hear the same devastating words: “no option.”
When blood flow to the lower limb fails and wounds no longer heal, patients are too often left with amputation as their only path forward. The human and economic cost is enormous — and largely preventable with better options for revascularization.
200,000+
Non-traumatic amputations each year in North America
Driven by compromised blood flow and neuropathy from peripheral vascular disease and diabetes-related complications.
$100B
Estimated annual cost burden of the amputation crisis
A staggering toll on patients, families, and the health system — much of it falling on those who reach “no option.”
The device
Advancing the TTT Frontier
Providing more options to limb salvage teams and programs for patients who need them most.
Our approach
Turning an emerging therapy into an accessible device.
BlueHealer is in active preclinical development. The specifics of how the device works are in stealth, but our direction is clear.
- 01
The biology: distraction osteogenesis-induced angiogenesis
Ilizarov's Law of Tension-Stress established that gradual, sustained mechanical tension on living tissue stimulates active regeneration. When cortical bone is slowly distracted, that tension triggers distraction osteogenesis — and critically, induces a parallel angiogenic response. New blood vessels form and extend into the surrounding soft tissue, restoring perfusion to ischemic regions. Applied transversely in the tibia, this biological mechanism becomes a tool for treating chronic limb-threatening ischemia from the inside out.
- 02
A rapidly growing global therapy
TTT is now being performed in more than 20 countries as an adjunct therapy for the most complex limb salvage and reconstruction cases — alongside, not instead of, existing options like bypass grafting and endovascular intervention. Surgeons across North America, Europe, and beyond are reporting remarkable wound healing and limb preservation outcomes in patients previously told amputation was inevitable. The field is growing rapidly.
- 03
The gap: why a better device is needed
Current approaches rely on external fixation frames, introducing infection risk, poor patient tolerance, and limited adoption outside specialized centers. BlueHealer is developing a next-generation device to address these barriers — making the therapy more accessible, controllable, and feasible for broader surgical adoption. Device details are in stealth.
Recognition
Backed by leading programs and competitions.
Recognized by national accelerators, innovation programs, and university venture competitions across the US and Canada.
Federal Grant Program
NSF National I-Corps Program
Completed June 2026
Selected for the National Science Foundation's flagship customer discovery and commercialization program for deep-tech startups.
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State Grant Award
TEDCO BII Grant
Feb 2026
Awarded a Maryland Innovation Initiative grant through TEDCO — Maryland's leading source of early-stage funding for technology companies.
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State Grant Award
MBIA Commercialization Grant
Maryland Business Innovation Association · July 2026
Recipient of the MCIG FY26 commercialization grant, supporting medical device translation in the state of Maryland.
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Fellowship Award
Abell Foundation Innovation Fellowship
June 2025
Named an Abell Foundation Innovation Fellow — recognizing high-potential ventures with transformative impact in the Baltimore region.
Accelerator
VentureWell E-Team Program
Spring 2026
Accepted into VentureWell's competitive E-Team program supporting science and engineering innovators developing high-impact technologies.
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Accelerator
PAVA Center FUEL Accelerator
Johns Hopkins · Dec 2025
Completed the Johns Hopkins PAVA Center's FUEL Accelerator, a selective program for JHU health innovation ventures.
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Venture Competition
Rice Business Plan Competition
Top 15 of 550+ · Houston, TX · Apr 2026
Competed among the top 15 out of 550+ global applicants at the world's largest and richest student business plan competition.
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Venture Competition
Stu Clark New Venture Championships
Top 16 · University of Manitoba · May 2026
Selected as a Top 16 finalist at one of Canada's premier university venture competitions for early-stage technology companies.
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Venture Competition
Shore Hatchery Business Competition
Finalist · Salisbury, MD · Apr 2026
Named a finalist at the Shore Hatchery competition, recognizing high-growth ventures in the Delmarva region.
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Always Learning
A team in constant conversation with the field.
We spend time with surgeons, vascular specialists, researchers, and patients across the country to deeply understand the care pathway and its pitfalls. It is how we become experts in limb salvage and build a solution that actually reaches patients and drives impact.
Mt. Rushmore Diabetic Foot Reconstruction Forum
Hosted by Sanford Research · Jun 2026
The State of Healthcare Conference
Venable LLP · Washington, DC · Jun 2026
International Elective — Vascular Surgery
Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá · Bogotá, Colombia · May 2026
International Congress of Orthoplastic Surgery (ICOS)
NYU Langone Health · May 2026
6th Annual Limb Loss & Restoration Symposium
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine · Apr 2026
32nd International Union of Angiology World Congress
Cartagena, Colombia · Mar 2026
Vascular Scientific Sessions
Society for Vascular Medicine · Philadelphia · Sep 2025
2nd Annual JHU Orthopedic Research Symposium
Johns Hopkins University · Feb 2025
About us
Built at the bedside, for patients with nowhere left to turn.
Baltimore, MD
Jay, Santiago, and Mitch met two years ago during their M.S.E. program at the Center for Bioengineering Innovation and Design at Johns Hopkins. The biodesign program began with shadowing clinicians — and 1,500+ hours later, much of it spent in the operating theatre watching revascularization procedures and the frustration when patients reached “no option,” the team set out to make this unmet need their focus.
They kept shadowing across wound care, rehab, vascular surgery, interventional radiology, orthopedics, and amputation clinics — ensuring the solution they build reaches patients where and when they need it most.
Why we started
To help patients who are faced with no option but amputation — giving them a real chance to heal.
Where we're going
We want patients to walk with their grandkids again. To go to the grocery store. To regain their independence and reclaim the life they had before chronic wounds took it from them.
Our team
Jay Tailor
MSE, BEng
CEO and Co-Founder
10+ years experience across direct and indirect patient care, IT systems, project management, medtech manufacturing quality, and ISO auditing. Ex-Boston Scientific. Avid cyclist and skier.
Santiago Rentería
MSE, BS
CTO and Co-Founder
Biodesign academia faculty, 2nd-time founder, and multiple patent holder. National award recipient for engineering excellence. International accelerator program experience.
Dr. Mitchell Lipke
MD, MSE, BS
CMO and Co-Founder
Johns Hopkins Medicine MD graduate and MCAT test preparation instructor. Experienced researcher and experimental designer. Volleyball and camping enthusiast.
Let's talk.
We'd love to connect with clinicians, researchers, partners, and investors who share our commitment to limb salvage. Reach out and we'll get back to you.
jay@bluehealer.co- For clinicians & researchers
- For partners & investors
- Media inquiries