The Wijesundara team’s concept was a “biomask” that used negative pressure wound therapy to draw fluid out of the wound area, helping it heal faster and lowering the risk of infection, while at the same time delivering fresh liquid to the wound to enhance the healing environment.Īfter comparing notes, the two researchers teamed up and developed an approach to treat hand wounds that would employ negative pressure wound therapy in a glove format. Allan to Professor Muthu Wijesundara, PhD, Division Head of Biomedical Device Technology at UTARI (the University of Texas at Arlington Research Institute), another DARPA-funded researcher working on wound healing for the face. agency funds ideas for transformative change rather than incremental improvements, which seemed the perfect place for a compelling project like Allan’s. “That was why we thought the digit was a place to start to see if we could show limb regeneration through regenerative medicine approaches.”Īllan successfully secured funding to explore the possibilities through a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) grant. “Based on a few reports in the literature we knew fingertips can regenerate somewhat, especially in kids,” Allan noted.
He wanted to understand why amphibians can regrow limbs after injury, yet human limb regeneration is unheard of… at least almost. Allan to explore the possibilities of regenerative medicine. Second, when the hand or fingers are immobilized during the healing process, which often results in permanent impaired mobility. First, the wraps are not transparent, so inspecting the state of healing requires unwrapping, then rewrapping, which risks disrupting fragile new tissue. This amounts to wrapping and immobilizing the hand, which leads to downstream wound healing problems. Sparked by frustration with standard approaches to post-surgical wound treatment, a UW Medicine researcher and hand surgeon, developed an interest in better hand healing. The ReHeal team’s story illustrates the happenstance that is often part of the entrepreneurial process. The result is a promising prototype device called the ReHeal Glove, which will be pilot tested with patients in the next few months using a combination of funding and support from WE-REACH (the Washington Entrepreneurial Research, Evaluation, and Commercialization Hub) and the Department of Defense. These types of hand and finger injuries provided the impetus for three individual innovators to connect, collaborate, and investigate over the past 10 years. You may no longer be able to dial that phone or grab those keys without wincing in pain. If the injury is serious, it could result in permanently impaired function. Now imagine one day, in a brief moment of distraction, you’re caught off guard and injure your hand badly enough to end up in the emergency room. Whether it’s dialing a number on your phone or grabbing your car keys, your hands and fingers orchestrate complicated movements to perform the job you expect them to do. It’s a wonder how much you depend on your hands and fingers to navigate daily life. Research Scientist/Engineer Brandon Bowman Performance Based Risk Sharing Database.University of Washington Research Affiliate Program on Transporters (UWRAPT).Targeted Long-Acting Combination Antiretroviral Therapy Program (TLC-ART).Program on Pharmacokinetics of Drugs of Abuse during Pregnancy (UWPKDAP).Pharmacogenomics Research Network (PGRN).Obstetric-fetal Pharmacology Research Unit (OPRU).Institute for Innovative Pharmacy Practice (I2P2).Drug Design/Metabolism/Transport and Research and Training Consortium (DMTSPR).
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