Per Vivo Labs

Per Vivo Labs® (PVL) is a proud, US Department of Veterans Affairs certified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB). PVL is operated by a core of pragmatic self-starters hailing from backgrounds in military, medicine, medical device sales, and customer relations. PVL was formed for the purpose of providing simple and effective solutions for life’s complex problems. PVL’s focus product line is a portable human temperature management solution to provide rapid medical assistance to patients suffering from heatstroke symptoms.

THE CHALLENGE

PVL’s Polar Skin product was developed with one of their target market segments, the U.S. Army, in mind.  The company leaders, Mr. Russell Hubbard, President, and Mr. Sean Hevey, Vice President of Operations, each experienced the need for a rapid and effective solution to address heat related illness, for US Military Personnel during extreme conditions experienced in deployment and training.

MEP's ROLE

In November 2014, the regional UTCIS Solutions Consultant, Dwaine Raper was contacted by John Campbell, Director of AccelNow (the Northeast TN Entrepreneur Accelerator) to inquire about university assistance for Per Vivo Labs.  The company had been successful in establishing trial sales with the U.S. Army.  However, the Procurement Agent needed PVL to provide some product performance validation testing results, before they could recommend the Polar Skin Product as the primary thermoregulation solution for the U.S. Army.

The UT CIS Solutions Consultant arranged for Gajanan Bhat, Ph. D., Director of the UT Knoxville Nonwoven Materials Research Laboratory (UTNRL) and Professor in the UTK Department of Materials Science & Engineering, to help PVL with the effort of developing and conducting an applicable product performance validation testing protocol.  The objectives of the testing were to evaluate the permeability, wetting, and drying characteristics of the Polar Skin product, along with the capillary wicking and cooling performance.  The testing results validated the superior performance of the Polar Skin product in comparison to the existing solution (a wet cotton bed sheet).

In early May, 2015, PVL was awarded a contract by the U.S. Army to supply the Polar Skin Cooling Packs, and they were informed that their cooling system is being evaluated to replace the existing system in all bases and units.  PVL has also begun selling to five additional military commands this year, plus the US Department of Agriculture, and the US Department of Interior.  PVL estimates that their sales in 2015 have already increased by 980% above their 2014 sales.

PVL is currently building on its success with the Polar Skin Product Family and conducting research on other thermoregulation solutions for different applications.