SBIR Phase II: A portable rapid cycling compression device to prevent blood clots

该小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是减少临床护理环境外个体的血栓发生率。静脉血凝块是最近从医院或临床护理环境出院的个体中的常见事件，仅在美国每年估计有50万例。静脉血栓会导致腿部疼痛和肿胀，丧失活动能力，再次住院，甚至在某些情况下死亡。该项目开发了一种新型设备，专门用于家庭，以增加低流动性用户的静脉血流量，以防止血栓形成。该项目改善了患者的治疗效果，并减少了估计10 B美元的相关成本。这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目利用分子研究，确定了一个关键的遗传途径，调节静脉血凝块的形成。这种保护性通路由典型活动和流动性刺激的特定静脉血流模式激活。然而，在低流动性的个体中，这一途径可能会丢失，导致静脉血凝块形成的风险增加。由于刺激这一途径提供了强大的保护，防止凝块形成，该项目提出了一种新的设备，专门设计用于重建静脉流动的模式，激活保护性的遗传途径。这种模式可以在不动的个体中成功地创建，其中外部按压施加到用户的小腿。该项目将专注于优化设备的尺寸和重量，同时最大限度地提高患者的舒适度和易用性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is to reduce the incidence of blood clots in individuals outside a clinical care setting. Venous blood clots are a common event in individuals who recently been discharged from a hospital or clinical care setting, with an estimated 500,000 cases annually in the US alone. Venous clots cause leg pain and swelling, loss of mobility, re-hospitalization, and even death in some cases. This project develops a novel device, specifically for use at home, to increase venous blood flow in low mobility users to prevent blood clot formation. This project improves patient outcomes and reduces the estimated $10 B in associated costs. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project leverages molecular studies that identified a key genetic pathway that regulates blood clot formation in veins. This protective pathway is activated by specific patterns of venous blood flow stimulated by typical activity and mobility. However, in individuals with low mobility this pathway can be lost resulting in an increased risk for venous blood clot formation. Because stimulation of this pathway offers powerful protection against clot formation, this project proposes a novel device specifically designed to recreate the patterns of venous flow that activate the protective genetic pathway. This pattern may be successfully created in immobile individuals with external compressions applied to the user’s calf. This project will focus on optimizing the device size and weight while maximizing patient comfort and ease of use.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.