Light & #039;Em Up: S & amp;N & #039;s Device Images Bacteria in Wounds

Smith & Nephew has begun selling a handheld imaging device that can detect bacteria in hard-to-heal wounds and instantly measure wound surface area. MolecuLight i:X is already available in Canada, where its inventor stumbled across the idea for the device. Ralph DaCosta, MD, now a principal investigator at Princess Margaret Cancer Center in Toronto, was a PhD student researching fluorescent imaging of gastrointestinal cancer in 2007. The big, expensive device he was using didn’t produce any green images, which would have indicated cancer, but a red image that he couldn’t identify. DaCosta took a photo of the image on his flip phone and sent a tissue sample of the red area for a biopsy, which found a large number of bacteria. Conversations with colleagues led him to believe he was onto something that could help wound patients worldwide, he said in an interview with Qmed/MD+DI. DaCosta began researching how to make a device that used only light -- no patient contact or contrast dyes -- to image bacteria in wounds. He filed for a patent in 2008 and conducted the first clinical trial on 30 patients the following year. He also began raising money and cold-calling CEOs of major wound care companies. MolecuLight ultimately won Health Canada approval and a CE mark, and the company is pursuing FDA clearance, with an answer possible in spring 2018, according to DaCosta. While MolecuLight is valuable for diabetic patients who suffer from hard-to-heal wounds, “it can be used ...
Source: MDDI - Category: Medical Devices Authors: Tags: Imaging Source Type: news