LumaCleanCares, LLC was founded in February 2015 in response to a critical gap in the enteral nutrition and management space—countless pain points were going unaddressed.
LumaCleanCares, LLC was founded in February 2015 in response to a critical gap in the enteral nutrition and management space—countless pain points were going unaddressed.
Our founding team, including Martin von Dyck, recognized the urgent need for better solutions. Patients and healthcare professionals were voicing their concerns, yet no one seemed to be listening.
With a background in medical engineering and a deep-rooted passion for enteral innovation, Martin saw an opportunity to drive meaningful change and improve patient outcomes.
In this Q&A with Martin, get an exclusive look at the journey behind LumaCleanCares, the challenges faced, and the future of groundbreaking product development.
A: I started out with degrees in finance and mechanical engineering in the 1980s, and went to work for one of my father’s companies since my December graduation was out of phase with Wall Street’s hiring cycle of on-boarding new Finance personnel in June. I worked in the finance department of the premier enteral innovator company, Biosearch Medical Products, Inc.; in fact, this company created and revolutionized the entire enteral industry. I was busy modernizing the finance department’s computer systems, planning on heading off to Wall Street in June, when one evening a Director asked for a volunteer. He needed someone to manage a pilot plant operation being run by R&D. I raised my hand, and completely fell in love with the job.
I loved what we were doing with patients and doctors, and that was the genesis of shedding my financial pathway and going full-throttle into medical devices.
From there, it was a total whirlwind. I was developing and inventing on a monthly basis. I was meeting with the leading premier professors in gastroenterology in places like Mount Sinai, University of Pennsylvania Medical School, Duke University, among others, who were asking to develop new medical devices. It was an amazing time in the 1980s’, creating devices that are still sold today. I was on the forefront of enteral innovation and it became my fuel and passion for years to come.
As years went by, we were completely vertically integrated and we kept growing the business horizontally. For example, we created the very first enteral feeding formula sold in a flexible pouch. Years later we sold that to a Clintec-Nestle, and went on to make all of our own electronic enteral feeding pumps, enteral foods, and pioneered surgically placed enteral feeding catheters (PEGs, G-Tubes and J-tubes), and much more.
From there, I also got involved with other types of endoscopic accessories such as bi-polar electro-coagulation probes, ERCPs, etc., and got them all cleared via FDA 510ks. Many that we created are still being sold today. During the 1990’s, I became the President of Biosearch Medical Products, where we continued to innovate many helpful devices—including urological catheters and novel hydrophilic medical coatings for cardiovascular and neurovascular catheters..
A decade later in 2000, I sold the company to Hydromer, Inc, so we could maximize each other's synergies. I spent years growing that business until my exit in 2023.
Over the years, one of the products I’m most proud of was the very first polyurethane nasogastric feeding catheter (Dobbhoff(R)) that transformed the standard of care away from large diameter and very uncomfortable latex feeding catheters. I also continued to innovate on my own medical device inventions, including the EsophaCap® device, which I formed with my company CapNostics LCC. It is a non-endoscopic catheter that helps in the early detection of esophageal carcinoma, one of the top lethal cancers. I developed this catheter with Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins University to name a few as they both were pioneering genetic and epi-genetic biomarkers so that they could detect precancerous or cancerous conditions in the esophagus. They needed my device in order to test the patient by retrieving the cellular samples needed for their biomarkers to function. It became absolutely life-saving technology tested around the world. I later sold that company (it was FDA approved device) to another company that was better versed at mass producing it in 2022.
A: A mutual medical practitioner and friend approached me, recalling my history in the enteral marketplace. She had recently learned about the ENFit® Connector and recognized its role in preventing IV and enteral cross-connections—an issue that had long plagued the industry. However, she also noticed an unintended consequence: the device’s complexity made it difficult to clean.
I requested an ENFit® connector sample and began prototyping solutions to address the cleaning challenge. Through multiple iterations and meetings, we refined my designs until we developed what is now known as the EnClean® Brush. This robust cleaning tool is specifically designed to safely clean the ENFit® Connector by occluding the feeding lumen during cleaning, preventing debris from entering the patient’s digestive tract. Additionally, it enhances enteral connections by removing caked-on material in the mote area, ensuring a secure and proper fit.
Recognizing the potential of our product, I suggested forming a company, and she immediately agreed. We both knew this was the start of something great—LumaCleanCares.
A: We actively sell two EnClean® Brush configurations through major international dealers. While attending several key medical conferences related to enteral feeding, we made it known that we were eager for new product ideas and sought insights into pain points with current standards of care.
I’m always looking for gaps in care and things no one else has thought of. In attending these conferences, I always had a sign that said we are looking for new ideas.
Well, that turned out to be very fruitful when I attended my very first OLEY Conference in 2023 in St Louis.
It is a very patient-centric show, and it was at this show where I had an epiphany. Throughout my career I had worked with medical practitioners, the teaching professors, the doctors, the nurses, but I never knew what happened once the patients were discharged from the hospital.
During this OLEY in 2023 conference, I was horrified and angry at the state of these patients with all their frustrations and pain points … their skin irritations and stoma leakage problems really incensed me.
I couldn’t believe that in the 23 years after exiting the enteral market, the industry hadn't addressed these pain points; it felt like the innovation had stopped in enteral catheter technology since 2000.
Catheters need to be monitored to ensure they work as designed and address patients needs. As I learned, patients in many cases were left to devise their own methodologies to cope with the frustrations of ill fitting catheters and leaking catheters. I literally spent hours well past midnight talking to patients at the Oley Conference about the trials and tribulations of their life as a catheterized patient. And I was all ears. I said, I am going to fix this.
During this show, it was opportune that Jasmine Sturr and her father Mel saw my sign. She came to us to discuss her own invention: a powder to help mitigate irritation of her own enteral stomas.
Jasmine was looking for a partner to help perfect and commercialize her concept. It took me about two minutes to know that I was seriously interested. Hours later, we made a deal.
We launched Jasmine’s product, StomaEase™, within just six months. Concurrently, we added the StomaDisc™ to it which was the evolution of a concept from my biosearch days. When we introduced both the StomaEase™ and StomaDisc™ at the same time, we immediately received tremendous positive feedback from the Patient population!
We went through several iterations based on patient feedback, and today it’s at the point where we need to educate the medical practitioners about StomaEase™ and StomeDisc™. We are looking forward to next month's ASPEN 2025 Nutrition Science and Practice Conference where we are going to feature and present these two new products to the medical practitioners, especially those specializing in enteral feeding. Swing by booth 420 to see us!
A: We are still actively looking and evaluating other medical devices to address gaps in care. We are looking at several devices that are in the NICUs, as that is a speciality field that has been underserved by industry.
We discovered that many NICU nurses were left to their own ingenuity (and did fabulously) by creating solutions using bandages, tongue depressors and building their own devices to manage their patients' needs. The country's most precious patients are in the NICUs. There are so many innovative, amazing medical practitioners in the NICUs, so we are evaluating opportunities as we speak to see if we will launch them at the end of this year.
Please keep in mind that LumaCleanCares is not just an enteral company; we address any gaps in care.
We are focusing on the home healthcare marketplace, where patients often lack support after discharge. Hospitals are no longer there to assist, and medical practitioners typically only become aware of issues when patients return to the ER. We explore new ideas presented by both patients and medical professionals who bring challenges and insights to our attention
We welcome all innovative ideas and are eager to hear from you. If we proceed with your concept, you'll become an integral part of our team. We'll establish a royalty-bearing agreement, ensuring you benefit from your contribution. This approach reflects our dedication to rewarding those who bring forth successful innovations—it's a cornerstone of our business philosophy. We listen, and we care.
Eventually, we want a robust product line, but we will never be satisfied. There are always new opportunities to make devices and processes smarter and to fill the gaps in care.
When we say LumaCleanCares, that is spot on. It’s brilliant in its simplicity of describing our goal. We really care, and if patients are suffering or practitioners are struggling because it’s hard to do a task, talk to us. We might be able to help come up with something, design a solution and get it through the FDA so your job is easier and patient outcomes are better.
If you are considering us as a partner, we have contractual relationships with FDA-registered and rapid-prototyping facilities. We can rapidly create prototypes for desktop/bench testing and the medical manufacturing capabilities to make it available globally. So if you come with your precious idea, you are not wasting your time— we can get it to the market on a global scale.
Do you have an idea you want to share with LumaCleanCares?
We want to hear it. Send an email to maureen.ogara@lumacleancares.com today to start the conversation. In the meantime, you can learn more about how we work with healthcare professionals here.
