ElastiMed

Today, there is a clear need for an easy-to-wear & mobile active compression device to treat lymphatic and venous diseases in the lower extremities. Compression stockings, the gold standard of care, suffers from limited effectiveness and over 60% of non-compliance from patients, due to their tight fit and difficulty in putting them on and taking them off, a task problematic especially for the elderly, obese, and arthritis sufferers.

A much more expensive alternative are pneumatic compression devices. These devices use an inflatable sleeve (garment) to massage the patient’s legs, mimicking rhythmic calf muscle contractions. Today’s garments are cumbersome and have noisy compressors and heavy air pumps, which limit the patient’s mobility and cause discomfort.

As a result, the common solutions in this global market are either too expensive, difficult to use, or both.

The solution

ElastiMed has developed an innovative wearable medical device, designed to improve circulation in the legs, to treat patients suffering from Venous and Lymphatic diseases. The Company’s patent protected technology incorporates innovative smart materials to continuously massage the patient’s leg in a sleek design.

When worn, ElastiMed’s compression device monitors the patient’s condition, collects values such as adherence, applied pressure, leg volume and more. Providing this information to patients will offer self-sustainability and personalized treatment, increasing patients’ engagement. This will also allow for remote patient monitoring by physicians, allowing for real-time treatment optimization and reduce unnecessary hospitalization.

ElastiMed’s device is currently being tested for leg volume reduction in a clinical study at the Rehabilitation Departments at Sheba Medical Centre. Patients are treated with ElastiMed’s device on one leg, while the other leg is treated with a medical compression bandage (hospital’s standard), showing more than 4x better results than the standard treatment, on 12 legs that have been tested so far.

In addition, without any marketing efforts, ElastiMed has generated interest from thousands of patients all over the world, asking when and where they can buy the device.

The technology

ElastiMed’s technology is based on a solution to manipulate a smart material called EAPs (Electro Active Polymers) or artificial muscles. EAPs are based on soft plastics, which have the capability of changing their size according to an electric pulse. ElastiMed has developed a process to produce an artificial muscle-based strap which functions like a thin rubber band that stretches and contracts according to an electrical pulse. Wrapping the strap around the leg converts the contraction into compression. When using three/four parallel EAP straps, and activating them sequentially, the patient’s leg is massaged and squeezed in an upwards direction, designed to stimulate circulation. Future development is expected to include Bluetooth connectivity, which allows for personalized treatment, continuous feedback getting the patient involved and in control of his condition, remote patient monitoring of the patient’s condition by caregivers, preventing unnecessary hospitalizations and big data analysis to optimize treatment.

The product is expected to be superior to medical compression stockings as it is

• Easier to wear and take off
• Comfortable to use
• More clinically effective

The product is expected to be superior to pneumatic compression devices as it is

• Mobile
• Convenient
• Quiet
• A much lower price

The product is expected to be superior to both pneumatic and compression stockings, as it is connected, allowing for

• Personalized treatment
• Continuous feedback, getting the patient more involved and in control of the treatment
• Remote patient monitoring
• Data analysis – optimizing treatment
• Compliance tracking

Interview with Dr. Thomas Serena, Founder & CEO of the SERENA GROUP;  former president of the AAWC (Association for the Advancement of Wound Care)