Emerging from the COVID-19 era, wound care innovation is driven by smaller companies
In April, the Symposium on Advanced Wound Care (SAWC) Spring 2022 returned to an in-person format for the first time since 2019. Though the turnout was below expectations, attendees enjoyed reconnecting with clinicians, engaging with vendors and catching up with colleagues and competitors.
Despite being three years since the last SAWC Spring, large wound care companies like Smith+Nephew* (SNN), Mölnlycke*, 3M* and others were oddly without major product introductions. SmartTRAK has learned that extended FDA review timelines and supply challenges may be playing a significant role in this reality. Companies have publicly commented that innovation and new product launches are planned for 2022, but timelines must have slipped past the SAWC Spring deadlines.
Regardless, innovation was not completely absent from SAWC Spring as smaller companies introduced new products and more companies exhibited IT-driven diagnostic, measurement and data-capture technologies.
(The SmartTRAK team will be attending the upcoming European Wound Management Association (EWMA) event May 23-25 in Paris. We would love to schedule some time to meet and hear your perspectives and views and discuss how SmartTRAK can help you make more informed strategic business decisions.)
In this article, SmartTRAK highlights new products and novel technologies exhibited at SAWC Spring 2022.
- Kerecis*, a privately held biologics company based in Iceland, launched Omega 3* MariGen Expanse, a pre-meshed, intact fish skin used to support tissue regeneration and healing of chronic wounds. MariGen comes in multiple sizes and is indicated for use across chronic and acute wound types. Kerecis indicated the product is designed to support outpatient wound care centers' efforts to effectively and economically treat large, chronic wounds.
- BioLab Sciences*, based out of Arizona (AZ), launched Dermistat, an allograft that uses the patient’s own blood to create a partial-thickness skin graft for the treatment of chronic wounds. According to BioLab Sciences, the process can take anywhere from a day to up to three days (depending on the patient’s proximity to AZ) for a blood sample to be taken, shipped, produced, returned and applied to the patient.
- Orpyx Medical* Technologies introduced SI Flex Sensory Insoles for the early detection of diabetic foot ulcer development. The technology starts with sensor-embedded custom insoles that provide real-world plantar feedback that can alert the patient to sustained pressure and reports to the patient’s provider for treatment modifications.
- Protex Healthcare introduced Vacutex, a three-layer dressing purporting to act like a “low-level pump” through capillary action. Though Protex does not directly compare its dressing to traditional negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) systems, the Company states it has an “autologous system” like NPWT.
- Defender launched a new offloading boot called Foot Defender. Designed to look like Air Jordans, the new offloading boot claims to offload 50% more pressure from the foot than other boots on the market.
In addition to the launch of new wound care products, companies more prominently exhibited imaging, diagnostic and other IT-enabled technologies.
- Wound care clinics are unique providers of care and require specific medical record systems. Intellicure and NetHealth attended promoting the use, interoperability and insights benefits of their systems.
- Electronic wound measurement companies are expanding their capabilities to capture wound images for the benefit of measuring healing trajectories and development of treatment decisions. eKare* highlighted the latest developments in its InSight* product that measures, documents and analyzes wounds. Healthy.io showcased its smart phone-powered wound measurement and healing trajectory tool that helps clinicians tailor treatment plans and documents healing. Perceptive Solutions exhibited its WoundZoom* tool that digitally manages wound measurement, tracks progress and creates documentation that integrates to dashboards and electronic health records (EHRs).
- Finally, clinicians are using more IT-driven tools to help identify infection and measure blood and oxygen perfusion to determine whether wounds will heal as expected. Moleculight* exhibited its recently launched MoleculightDX device at the meeting, which upgrades the prior device with EHR integration, docking station and an improved patient-centric user interface. Kent Imaging* had a significant booth presence highlighting the latest with its SnapshotNIR* product. Kent Imaging recently announced there are more than two hundred systems in use in North America as it works to promote the benefits of visualizing blood and oxygen perfusion in wound healing. Finally, Mimosa Diagnostics was on hand to promote its Mimosa Pro, a device that snaps onto a smartphone that allows visualization and assessment of tissue oximetry, temperature and other biomarkers.
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