Mar 9 2015
Bruin Biometrics LLC, a medical technology company employing biometric sensors for earlier, more accurate detection of chronic, preventable conditions flagged by policy makers as high-priority today announced the publication of a new study in Journal of Tissue Viability. Newly released data validates that the Company’s SEM Scanner provides standardized and objective data for consistent diagnosis of early pressure ulcers across users of varying skill levels.
“The SEM Scanner offers clinicians a greatly needed method to confirm the existence of early stage pressure ulcers quickly and reliably. Pressure ulcers represent a medical condition that should rarely happen and providers are severely penalized through cost and litigation expenses,” said Martin Burns, CEO, Bruin Biometrics. “We have learned from clinicians using the device in UK NHS Trust Hospitals and acute care hospitals in Ireland, that the SEM Scanner offers real-time insight at the point of care to lower pressure ulcer incidence, stop progression of a potentially lethal condition, and immediately slash the costs of care.”
Use of SEM Scanner improves upon the existing standard of care for early detection of pressure ulcers. By measuring inflammatory factors present prior to appearance of visual symptoms, SEM Scanner can accurately determine the presence of early stage pressure ulcers 91% of the time and the absence of pressure ulcers 86% of the time. By contrast, widely used visual inspection assessment can be subjective and unreliable and by the time visual symptoms appear, significant tissue damage has already occurred.
Despite being largely avoidable with early detection, widespread prevalence of pressure ulcers persists. And as a contributing cause of community-acquired infections, such as sepsis and MRSA, pressure ulcers have risen to the national health agenda for many countries. UK Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, recently cited pressure ulcers as one of four medical errors that are contributing to wastage of £2.5 billion annually.
The SEM Scanner gives hope for the reduction of unnecessary disease progression and patient suffering – with the potential to prevent up to £2B in avoidable medical costs.
The study, which was published in the February 2015 issue of Journal of Tissue Viability can also be found online at the Journal of Tissue Viability. The reliability data from the current study expands on the SEM Scanner performance data presented at WoundsUK 2014, which can be found at www.bruinbiometrics.com.
About the SEM Scanner™
SEM Scanner is a hand-held wound assessment device to detect early-stage pressure ulcers and deep tissue injury (DTI). SEM Scanner uses non-invasive biosensor technology to measure sub-epidermal moisture (SEM), a biophysical marker associated with localized edema in the initial inflammatory phase of pressure ulcer formation. SEM has been found to indicate tissue damage three to ten days before visible symptoms or pressure ulcer formation. The SEM Scanner produces real-time information for the objective evaluation of tissue health status to guide targeted intervention. SEM Scanner launched in the UK market in 2014 with CE Marking; BBI is working with FDA to make the SEM Scanner available in the US market in 2016.
About Pressure Ulcers
Pressure ulcers, otherwise known as “bedsores” or “pressure sores”, are areas of localised damage to the skin and/or underlying tissue – usually over an area of bony prominence – as a result of pressure with shear and/or friction. Across Europe and the United States, it is estimated that 18%-25% of patients in both acute care and long-term care settings suffer from pressure ulcers, disproportionately impacting the elderly and patients with limited mobility. It is widely believed that 80%-95% of pressure ulcers are preventable, causing them to be deemed “never events” in the US and “medical errors” in Europe. As a cause of disfigurement, infection (e.g., sepsis, MRSA) and death, with estimates costs of over £2 billion in the UK and close to $11B in the US, pressure ulcer management has risen to the national health agenda for many countries.
About Bruin Biometrics
Bruin Biometrics LLC, a pioneer in biometric-sensor based medical devices, is committed to the development of point-of-care diagnostic solutions that improve the care standards and drastically reduce the costs of care for chronic, preventable conditions where the burden of costs lies with the healthcare provider and is flagged by policy makers as high priority. BBI’s lead product, the SEM Scanner, is setting a new standard of care in the $15+ billion pressure ulcer detection and prevention market affecting 25% of acute care hospital and long-term care patients – typically the elderly and immobile patients.