Patients Are the Co-Designer — Plexāā’s Gaele Lalahy

In this episode of the DeviceTalks Women in MedTech podcast, Host Kayleen Brown sits down with Gaele Lalahy, Chief Operating Officer at Plexāā, to discuss what it looks like to treat patients as true co-designers, not only in product development but across the entire pre-surgery experience.

Lalahy shares the clinical foundation behind BLOOM⁴³, Plexāā’s wearable, at-home device used the night before breast surgery to increase blood flow and support healing through supraphysiological preconditioning, and explains how Plexāā pairs the device with a holistic app that helps patients feel prepared, informed, and supported before and after surgery.

Kayleen also welcomes Tom Salemi, Editorial Director of DeviceTalks, for an in-studio conversation that connects the episode’s theme to the broader MedTech ecosystem, including a look ahead at DeviceTalks Minnesota, May 4 and DeviceTalks Boston, May 27–28. Together, they discuss how listening to the end user shapes better outcomes, better experiences, and better leadership.

* Mentioned in the interview * Check out this DeviceTalks Weekly episode featuring Samay's CEO Maria Artunduaga: https://www.devicetalks.com/how-samays-ceo-came-up-with-the-sound-idea-for-a-device-to-battle-copd-win-medtech-innovator/

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Chapters

• (00:00:08) - Intro to theme: patient as co‑designer
• (00:03:38) - Interview with In-Studio guest, Tom Salemi
• (00:04:29) - DeviceTalks Minnesota (May 4) & DeviceTalks Boston (May 27–28) preview
• (00:14:17) - Keynote interview with Gaele Lalahy, COO, Plexāā
• (00:15:59) - Gaele’s origin story: gymnast mindset, Panasonic, and “unlearning” into MedTech
• (00:26:50) - Plexāā + BLOOM⁴³ explained: reducing complications with supraphysiological preconditioning
• (00:39:55) - Leadership + allyship: building teams, saying yes, and mentor shout-outs