I-Flow Corporation, Lake Forest, California, through its wholly owned subsidiary, AcryMed Inc, has announced that it received 510(k) clearance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its stabilized antimicrobial wound gel. The still unnamed product has been FDA cleared for both over-the-counter and prescription-only marketing and distribution. The new stabilized antimicrobial wound gel contains antimicrobial silver in an amorphous gel and uses the same proprietary silver stabilization chemistry as its SilvaSorb Gel, but is considered more potent and durable. It was tested in vitro against a current market-leading prescription antimicrobial wound product and was found to be more active with minimal adverse tissue reactions, according to the manufacturer.
[black up pointing small triangle] Information:http://www.iflo.com
Ondine Biopharma Corporation, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, announced publication of a study demonstrating the first successful decontamination of heavily methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus-infected wounds in animals. The study was conducted by collaborative researchers at University College London in the United Kingdom, using Ondine's MRSAid photodisinfection system, which is currently under development. The study (published in BMC Microbiology 2009;9:27) was important, according to Prof Michael Wilson, Division of Microbial Disease, University College London, because it is a novel approach to the disinfection of burns and wounds that may be contaminated with MRSA bacterium.
[black up pointing small triangle] Information:http://www.ondinebiopharma.com
ConvaTec, Skillman, New Jersey, has signed a copromotion agreement with HemCon Medical Technologies Inc, Portland, Oregon, to market ConvaTec advanced wound and critical care products to the US Armed Forces. Through the agreement, HemCon, a leading global developer of advanced medical products, is granted sales and marketing rights to leading ConvaTec products, the company's AQUACEL and AQUACEL Ag dressings for managing acute and chronic wounds, and its Flexi-Seal Fecal Management System for the management of fecal incontinence.
[black up pointing small triangle] Information:http://www.convatec.com
The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued its new "Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Health Care." The guidelines include the subheading of "First Global Safety Challenge, Clean Care Is Safer Care." The 270-page document is available on the WHO Web site.
[black up pointing small triangle] Information:http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2009/9789241597906_eng.pdf
Derma Sciences, Inc, Princeton, New Jersey, has begun shipping BIOGUARD Barrier Dressings to customers. The active component of the dressings, a nontoxic high-molecular-weight cationic polymer-p-DADMAC, is patented for use in wound dressings and a variety of other fields by Quick-Med Technologies, Inc, Boca Raton, Florida. The company also announced that it has been awarded reimbursement codes for the dressings, allowing the products to be reimbursable by Medicare. BIOGUARD will offer surgeons, wound care clinicians, infection control experts, and primary care physicians a new weapon against the transmission of such virulent bacteria as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, according to the manufacturer.
[black up pointing small triangle] Information:http://www.dermasciences.com
Results of a retrospective analysis conducted by clinicians at Maricopa Integrated Health System (MIHS) found that a protocol of care using a standardized algorithm with advanced products reduced the prevalence of pressure ulcers by 90%.1 Under the recently established MIHS Center for Clinical Excellence, nursing officers selected Solutions Algorithms from ConvaTec, Skillman, New Jersey, an evidence-based wound assessment, treatment, and prevention guideline, as the foundation for increasing competency in skin and wound care.
More than 1100 MIHS nurses were trained on the use of the algorithms. MIHS also utilized the advanced ConvaTec products specified in the evidence-based protocol for pressure ulcer prevention: the Aloe Vesta skin care system, DuoDERM dressings, and the Flexi-Seal Fecal Management System. After the first year, a prevalence audit showed more than a 50% reduction in hospital-acquired pressure ulcers. By December 2008, following the full rollout of the interactive algorithms, a second audit reported a 90% reduction.1 First launched by ConvaTec 10 years ago, the Solutions Algorithms printed manuals have been content validated by multiple groups of wound care professionals and global opinion leaders.
Reference
1. Bowser J. How Solutions Algorithms are making a difference at Maricopa Integrated Health System. Presentation at the 41st Annual Conference of the Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nurses Society; June 6-10, 2009; St Louis, MO. [Context Link]
[black up pointing small triangle] Information:http://www.convatec.com
Sechrist Industries, Anaheim, California, has announced the availability of a new Patient and Chamber Ground-Check System that will provide verification of all National Fire Protection Association hyperbaric chamber ground requirements and is the first to be fully integrated into any hyperbaric chamber, according to the manufacturer. The new system eliminates the need for in-house grounding solutions or for complex commercial products that lay on the ground underneath the chamber. Integrated into the chamber itself, the Sechrist Hyperbaric Chamber Ground-Check System tests the patient and chamber independently for ground integrity and also tests the ground integrity of the complete patient grounding pathway (ground stud, chamber, and patient). The new system can be integrated into all new Sechrist hyperbaric chambers and is available as an upgrade kit for use in installed units. The kit includes a chamber ground test point assembly, a chamber measurement kit, and all associated cables plus installation instructions for chambers already in use at wound care and hyperbaric centers.
[black up pointing small triangle] Information:http://www.SechristUSA.com
Eloquest Healthcare, Inc, Ferndale, Michigan, a dermatology specialty company that focuses on improving dermal outcomes for the acute care market, has announced that it is partnering with Onset Therapeutics, Woonsocket, Rhode Island, to market Optase (balsam of Peru [87 mg/g], castor oil [788 mg/g], and trypsin [0.12 mg/g]). Optase, a prescription product formulated in a patent-pending gel delivery system for topical application, promotes healing in the treatment of pressure ulcers, varicose ulcers, and dehiscent wounds. Eloquest Healthcare will market Optase in the acute care setting.
[black up pointing small triangle] Information:http://www.eloquesthealthcare.com