welcomes you to the new, improved website!CTSNet Innovation Video Competition
Innovation in cardiothoracic surgery expands the boundaries of what is possible, delivering safer, more effective care and offering new hope to patients. The CTSNet Innovation Video Competition highlights innovative solutions to current CT surgery challenges, including new technologies, novel surgical approaches, and pioneering research or management protocols. This competition is open to all CT surgery professionals, clinical care providers, and researchers. All qualifying entries will be featured on CTSNet.org and given the opportunity to compete for the top prize.
Submitted videos can help surgeons and clinical care teams tackle increasingly complex cases, reduce recovery times, minimize complications, and achieve better patient outcomes. They also enhance the CTSNet library of innovative video learning resources. All CT surgery professionals, clinical care providers, and researchers are eligible to enter and compete for the US $1,000 first-place prize.
Submissions Are Now Open!
Entries for the 6th Annual CTSNet Innovation Video Competition will close on September 25, 2026, at 12:00 p.m. CDT (UTC-5).
Under Submission Type, please select “Instructional Video Competition” in the Description field.
For more information on the competition and how to enter, see the sections below:
ELIGIBILITY
The competition is open to all cardiothoracic surgery team members and researchers.
COMPETITION GUIDELINES
• Only one submission per entrant will be accepted.
• Submitted video guidelines include the following:
▸Videos can be any length
▸Videos can address a new topic or a known topic to which a video adds innovative insights
▸All videos must adhere to all established guidelines for patient safety.
• Videos may or may not demonstrate a clinical case; innovative content on surgical solutions at preclinical and therapeutic stages of development will also be considered.
• To meet the CTSNet first authorship requirement, the entrant must have created and/or edited the videos and serve as the video’s narrator.
• The submission must adhere to CTSNet standard submission guidelines.
benefits and prizes
1st place winner:
• US $1,000 monetary prize
• Publication of your video on CTSNet.org
• Altmetric badging for citation and CV purposes
• Featured in announcement of competition results on CTSNet.org, CTSNet social media channels, and in Pulse e-newsletter
• Exclusive video interview about your winning video published on CTSNet.org
2nd and 3rd place winners:
• Publication of your video on CTSNet.org
• Altmetric badging for citation and CV purposes
• Featured in announcement of competition results on CTSNet.org, CTSNet social media channels, and in Pulse e-newsletter
All qualifying entries:
• Publication of video on CTSNet.org
• Altmetric badging for citation and CV purposes
judging criteria
To evaluate the quality of video submissions, a panel of distinguished cardiothoracic surgeons and clinical care professionals and CTSNet editors will serve as judges.
Videos will be judged using the following criteria:
• Prevalence and/or severity of the challenge(s) they address
• Originality and inventiveness of the solution
• Practicality and ease of implementation
• Benefit to patient care
• Quality of the video and associated submission
submission instructions
Applicants must use the CTSNet content submission form to enter videos into the competition. Under Submission Type, please select “Innovation Video Competition.” This ensures that the submission is considered for the competition.
Previous Competition Award Winners
5th Annual CTSNet Innovation Award Video Competition (2025)
By Ali Mashadi, Sameh Said, Yasin Essa
By Ahmad Ali Amirghofran
By Omar Toubat, John J. Kelly, Michael Catalano, Max Shin, Amit Iyengar, Michael A. Acker, Wilson Y. Szeto, Michael E. Ibrahim
