Latest News Stories from Across the Industry

Paul J. Kim, DPM, MS, joined the University of Texas Southwestern (Dallas, TX) as Medical Director of the Wound Program at William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital in late April. He holds a dual appointment of Professor in Plastic Surgery and Orthopedic Surgery and oversees all aspects of the inpatient and outpatient wound program, including a multidisciplinary team of physicians, nurse practitioners, physical therapists, and nurses. The UT Southwestern team also includes Lawrence Lavery, DPM, MPH; Dane Wukich, MD; Javier La Fontaine, DPM; George Liu, DPM; and Katherine Raspovic, DPM. 

Dr. Kim was Professor of Plastic Surgery and Vice Chair of Research for MedStar Health Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery and a physician at the MedStar Georgetown Center for Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Medicine (Washington, DC). He states, “I am forever thankful to the people and [MedStar Georgetown] hospital that have unwaveringly supported my professional development.” While at the MedStar Georgetown wound center, Dr. Kim authored more than 100 publications with his partners Christopher Attinger, MD; John Steinberg, DPM; Karen Evans MD; and Cameron Akbari, MD.

Smith & Nephew (Fort Worth, TX), a global medical technology company, announced the agreement to acquire Leaf Healthcare, Inc. After a successful two-year partnership, this acquisition will officially transfer the ownership of the unique Leaf Patient Monitoring System. This device, a small, lightweight, wearable sensor, aims to prevent pressure injuries (PIs) and monitor patient mobility. The device collects data to document compliance with prescribed turn protocols to avoid PIs for at-risk patients. The acquisition is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2019. 

Visit www.smith-nephew.com to learn more.

SANUWAVE, Inc (Suwanee, GA) has announced that enrollment for 2 upcoming company-sponsored studies on diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) is now beginning. The first study, which will be conducted at Vascular and Wound Care Center at University Hospital, Rutgers NJMS (Newark, NJ) and Olive View-UCLA Medical Center (Sylmar, CA), will focus on a case study to determine and quantify the level of increased perfusion and oxygenation during and after the use of dermaPACE System on DFUs. The second study, which will be more extensive and take place in Poland, will determine the response of DFUs treated with an increasing number of shockwaves/pulses in addition to standard of care. 

Visit www.sanuwave.com to learn more.

URGO Medical (Fort Worth, TX) announced the asset purchase of REALM Therapeutics, the owner of Vashe technology. This technology is a hypochlorous acid wound cleansing solution that is nonantibiotic, nonirritating, and noncytotoxic. The new acquisition will bring research activities aimed at finding new hypochlorous acid-based treatments for allergic conjunctivitis and for atopic dermatitis to the company. 

Visit www.urgomedical.com to learn more.

Researchers from Binghamton University, State University of New York (Binghamton, NY), developed an electromechanical biosensor to allow for real-time, on-site evaluation of the wound healing process. The biosensor, which has an open-mesh design that reflects the skin’s microarchitecture, tracks and analyzes lactate and oxygen on the skin, 2 important biomarkers in determining the healing progression of wounds. This system aims to determine critical biochemical events without evoking an inflammatory response. 

Visit https://www.binghamton.edu/news/story/1738/wearable-sensors-mimic-skin-to-help-with-wound-healing-process to learn more.

In March 2019, James Goodwin and colleagues published, “Pyruvate-depleting Conditions Induce Biofilm Dispersion and Enhance the Efficacy of Antibiotics in Killing Biofilms In Vitro and In Vivo,” in Scientific Reports, in which they reported a method to treat bacterial infections. The authors found that Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus need pyruvate to form structured biofilm communities that are inherently resistant to antibiotics. Subsequently, they demonstrated that removal of pyruvate induces a physiological change in biofilm bacteria that has 2 consequences: (1) it causes them to disassemble the biofilm structure in a process referred to as biofilm dispersion; and (2) it renders biofilm bacteria more susceptible to antibiotics. 

The potential of this novel therapeutic strategy was apparent, as the combination treatment (inducing biofilm dispersion in addition to conventional antibiotic therapy) was significantly more effective than treatment with antibiotics alone or even with the antimicrobial cream silver sulfadiazine (considered the gold standard in wound care).

Visit https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-40378-z to read the full study results.

Arch Therapeutics, Inc (Framingham, MA), product developer of dermal science and biosurgical applications, announced the release of a demonstration video featuring AC5 Topical Gel. This video is available on the Wounds journal website and was produced for the Symposium on Advanced Wound Care Spring (May 7-11, 2019). 

The video illustrates the use of the topical gel in porcine surgical wound models of a skin graft and of incisions made in the presence of the anticoagulant heparin.

Visit www.woundsresearch.com/video/arch to watch the video.