AMSEL MEDICAL CORPORATION — Department of Defense SBIR Phase II: AF20R-DCSO1

Description

Despite the development of numerous methods for proximal vessel compression and control, even today, the exsanguination rates associated with junctional and non-compressible hemorrhage in the battlefield prior to surgical intervention are extremely high, with a greater than 60% mortality amongst US combatants. Junctional hemorrhage due to trauma is also a major cause of mortality and morbidity for civilian victims. The ability to rapidly and effectively reduce blood loss and improve survival has broad significance. Amsel Medical Corporation, a medical device company, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has developed a percutaneous, minimally invasive fine-needle (~1mm diameter, 18 gauge) delivered temporary mechanical clamp (SCureTOTM) for fast, secure mechanical ligation as well as variable and controllable occlusion of the targeted blood vessel once applied, with simple removal of the occluding device when no longer required, without the need for any surgical procedure. This technology offers the ability to very specifically clamp and control blood flow in a targeted vessel above the site of injury in trauma scenarios allowing control of junctional and non-compressible hemorrhage in seconds, while enabling the patient to be evacuated for definitive care. This provides similar benefits to that of an externally applied tourniquet but in a much more targeted manner, and in regions not accessible for a traditional tourniquet. Furthermore, the unique, patented, interdigitated clamping design of the SCureTO prevents crushing injury to the vessel while it is clamped, allowing effective flow to be restored to the vessel once the clamp is removed.