VitaTalk Ep. 24

Aug 29, 2025
3 min read

Restoring Dignity: How Melissa Fryberger Is Redesigning Independence in Urological Care

In this episode of VitaTalk, host Patrick Hodgdon sits down with VitaTek client, Melissa Fryberger, a determined solo founder on a mission to solve a deeply personal problem. Inspired by her father’s experience after a stroke, Melissa has spent years developing a condom catheter system that restores independence and dignity to patients with limited mobility.

A Personal Catalyst for Innovation

Melissa’s father suffered a stroke in 2010 that left his right side paralyzed. While he regained the ability to walk and speak, his right arm never recovered. This meant he couldn’t apply a condom catheter himself, a device that typically requires two hands to use.

Her mother stayed overnight at his rehab facility for five months because the nursing staff couldn’t consistently apply the device correctly. Night after night, he woke up wet and humiliated.

“It was his dignity,” Melissa recalls. “Here was this strong man now needing personal help for something so basic. I thought, there has to be a product that lets him do this himself.”

After discovering no such solution existed, Melissa decided she would develop it herself, not just for her father, but for anyone facing similar challenges due to strokes, TIAs, injuries, or surgeries.

From Idea to Action

Though she had sales experience in the medical device space, Melissa had no engineering background. She started by hiring an engineering firm to create early prototypes and run initial tests. Later, she transitioned to working directly with an engineer, and eventually found VitaTek, where she could access design, prototyping, manufacturing, and commercialization support under one roof.

“I didn’t know if I’d license it or manufacture and distribute it myself,” Melissa says. “I just knew I needed a partner who could help me navigate the whole process.”

Patrick notes that Melissa’s openness to guidance, combined with her clear vision, made her an ideal client: “You came in with no ego and said, ‘I don’t know how to bring this to market, but I know it needs to get there.’”

Pushing Past the Naysayers

Almost everyone Melissa told about her project warned her about the challenges: FDA regulations, timelines, and costs. But she tuned them out.

“I’ve never had an exit strategy,” she says. “I’ve never thought, ‘What if this fails?’ Maybe that’s naive, but it keeps me focused on getting the best product out there.”

Melissa believes outsiders to the medical field often bring fresh perspective and fewer reservations about challenging the status quo, a necessary trait for innovation.

Advice for Future Founders

Melissa’s journey offers several takeaways for aspiring medtech innovators:

Trust your gut — Your instinct exists for a reason.
Choose your partners wisely — If your engineer or firm isn’t a good fit, move on quickly.
Work with a patent attorney you trust — Protecting your intellectual property is essential.
Don’t listen to every opinion — Too many “you can’t” voices can kill momentum.
Focus on the mission, not the exit — Think about the people you’re helping first.

The Road Ahead

Melissa describes her project as a passion mission. She hopes to keep it as long as possible, but ultimately wants to reach as many patients as she can, whether that’s through manufacturing it herself, licensing, or partnering with a larger company.

“There are so many people out there who don’t need the humiliation my dad went through,” she says. “This product can give them their independence back.”

🩺 Interested in learning more about life at VitaTek or how we’re reshaping the medical device space? Stay tuned for more episodes of the VitaTalk Podcast!

Stay tuned for more episodes and updates, because the best ideas in healthcare are just getting started.