![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2021-10-4-Amanda-and-Angel-Rollag-high-res_SHN-800x600-1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nSisters Amanda Rollag and Angel Rollag Bonacker, both Sanford Health nurses, created the Sternum Protector pad with their dad after his open-heart surgery.<\/p>\n
This device is worn directly over the chest and secured with straps, allowing patients to keep their hands free. Instead of fumbling for a blanket, patients simply can press their hand against the pad to support their healing sternum during any sudden movement. The pad is designed to fit comfortably over the chest and is easily adjustable to accommodate different body types, ensuring secure support during everyday activities.<\/p>\n
\u201cHands-free protection with 24-hour coverage can be transformative during recovery,\u201d said Rollag Bonacker, a PRN. \u201cYou could go out on the bike trails, you could be protected in your car \u2013 it offers you protection when your dog is jumping on you. It\u2019s protecting you from infections and injuries. It can help in so many different ways.\u201d<\/p>\n
Developing a plan<\/p>\n
Getting the device from the sisters\u2019 brains to the homemade prototype their father used was the first step, but there were many steps to follow in delivering a product that Sanford Health now provides at two of its Sanford Health Equip medical supply stores.<\/a><\/p>\n As the Rollags would learn, there are a lot of layers involved, particularly with medical devices. With help from Sanford Innovation and Commercialization<\/a>, however, they were able to navigate a process they now regard as a tribute to their father, who died in a car accident in May 2020.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was his dream to get this invention out there,\u201d Rollag Bonacker said. \u201cHe was so proud of us. He was like, \u2018We have to get this out to everybody.\u2019 We tried to remind him that it was going to be pretty hard to launch a medical device, but when he passed, we decided we were going to do everything we could to launch this in his memory.\u201d<\/p>\n The device had two things going for it throughout its development:<\/p>\n It worked. Dale Rollag was safer during his recovery from open-heart surgery because his daughters invented the Sternum Protector. \u201cIt\u2019s really interesting that they came up with this idea, both from the scope of their work as nurses and through their own life situation,\u201d said Eva Gut, innovation strategist at Sanford Health. \u201cThis came from their dad being sent home and told to hold a blanket to his chest.\u201d<\/p>\n In this case, the Sternum Protector\u2019s beauty was that it accomplished a lot without being complicated.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s such a simple innovation \u2013 it\u2019s ideal because it solves a challenge, improves patient safety and the patient experience,\u201d said Katie Pohlson, Sanford vice president of innovation and commercialization. \u201cThe best ideas come from our front lines and help solve problems for our patients and caregivers.\u201d<\/p>\n Advancing sound ideas<\/p>\n By following the Sternum Protector\u2019s development, you can see how Sanford Innovation and Commercialization helped the Rollags and continues to help others advance their ideas within the health system.<\/p>\n The innovation team began by determining this was a novel idea. It meant that directing expertise and resources to its development would be new territory in health care. To that end, they helped put together a commercialization plan fueled by market research.<\/p>\n Sanford Health Equip was an ideal partner in the commercialization effort. By providing the product with an appropriate platform, open-heart surgery patients eventually had access to the same sternum protection that helped Dale Rollag.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to determine what makes a product unique before we put it on the shelves,\u201d said John Lowry, vice president of Sanford Health Equip. \u201cLet\u2019s say somebody comes up with a new crutch. It might be an innovative crutch, but is it different enough that it would be something people would buy? We also need to determine if patients recognize this as important.\u201d<\/p>\n Getting a big boost<\/p>\n While the Sternum Protector counts as a big win for the innovation and commercialization team, there are many other Sanford people who have sought expertise in developing their own concepts. These efforts have led to more than $11 million in licensing revenue to date, involving 231 unique inventors.<\/p>\n In addition, Sanford has eight commercialized technologies on the market that originated with Sanford people, with one pending approval and another in a Phase 2 clinical study.<\/p>\n \u201cIf people want to explore a new invention, we have a lot of things we can offer,\u201d Pohlson said. \u201cWe have a makerspace here at the Innovation Center at the Virtual Care Center<\/a> that allows people to come in and create their devices. We\u2019ve had several people come in and make an early prototype. We have 3D printing and an engineer available to assist with those devices.\u201d<\/p>\n The sisters continue entrepreneurial efforts with the Sternum Protector, which won an award at the South Dakota Governor\u2019s Giant Vision Competition a few years ago for being one of the state\u2019s top inventions. Rollag Bonacker and her husband, Matt, own an industrial sewing company in Sioux Falls and have started to manufacture the protectors \u2013 including a new child and toddler sized model.<\/p>\n They will proceed knowing they got a big boost from Sanford, where those on health care\u2019s front lines are often the best sources for better ideas.<\/p>\n \u201cWe really wanted to have Sanford on the map for this because they\u2019ve been the people who lifted us from the ground up,\u201d Rollag Bonacker said. \u201cThey\u2019re leaders in improving patient care, and they\u2019ve proved it by being super-helpful to us.\u201d<\/p>\n Do you have a good idea?<\/p>\n Sanford Health employees have the opportunity to bring their ideas to the innovation and commercialization team for consideration. If you have an innovative solution to a challenge or a concept you would like the team to review, please send a brief description of it and your contact information to innovations@sanfordhealth.org.<\/a><\/p>\n Learn more<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"March 24, 2026 This piece is sponsored by Sanford Health. Dale Rollag had always encouraged his daughters to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":346285,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[134,527,111,139,69,184322],"class_list":["post-346284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sanford-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=346284"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346284\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/346285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=346284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=346284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=346284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nNobody had thought of it before. It was genuinely a unique product in the health care space.<\/p>\n