FESARIUS THERAPEUTICS:
Engineered Skin Replacement
Every year, thousands of patients suffer from poor wound healing after tissue loss from trauma, burns or infection. Current grafts use a scaffold that healthy skin cells invade, allowing the process of skin barrier recreation to start. However, these products typically experience an unacceptably high rate of complication and failure. Fesarius Therapeutics is developing an engineered skin replacement product that uses patented micro-
sphere hydrogel technology. The gel scaffold uses microspheres embedded in a collagen hydrogel to maximize the number of differential density interfaces. These differential densities uniquely drive cell invasion, proliferation and eventual healing. These innovations have potential to benefit patients with wounds that typically fail grafting. For more information, visit: fesariustherapeutics.com
BRAVA DIAGNOSTICS:
Point-of-care Troponin Assay Chest pain is a very common chief complaint of patients in the ED. In 2016, there were approximately 8 million visits to emergency departments for chest pain in the U.S. In addition, 18.2 million Americans had coronary artery disease (CHD) in 2016, according to the 2019 American Heart Association Statistical Update for Heart Disease and Stroke. The diagnostic workup for chest pain is often complicated by lengthy lab turn-around times, especially in facilities without 24-hour on-site labs. Brava Diagnostics is developing a highly sensitive troponin point-of-care test for diagnosis of heart attack. The proprietary evanescent planar waveguide platform
ELSIUS BIOMEDICAL:
Advance Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) was initially developed in the 1970’s to treat premature infants with poor lung development. Since then, its use has expanded to include children and adults as a last resort oxygenation therapy. However, ECMO is complicated by its physical size, blood clotting, necessity for systemic anticoagulation and the systemic inflammatory response.
delivers a lab-quality troponin test in a point-of-care ED setting. The test is run on a whole blood sample with results in less than 15 minutes. In contrast with other point-of-care troponin tests, this meets the American College of Cardiology and European Society of Cardiology guidelines for sensitivity and precision. Rapid diagnosis will allow for faster cardiac ischemia rule-out for patients presenting with chest pain. Decreasing workup times can reduce excess admissions, reduce costs and improve patient satisfaction.
Elsius Biomedical is developing a compact, integrated ECMO device that leverages a proprietary biocompatible coating specifically developed for extra corporeal life support applications. The coating, which has been developed in conjunction with Ension Inc, utilizes a glycocalyx to mimic the way blood interacts with blood vessel walls. This reduces the inflammatory response and need for anticoagulation associated with the procedure. In addition, the oxygenator and blood pump are a combined, portable, compact unit. By reducing both complications and increasing portability, it is possible that Elsius’ ECMO machine could expand ECMO initiation to the ED.
For more information, visit: bravadx.com
For more information, visit: www.elsius.com ■
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