‘Improving Patient Safety’
ENDOVAC is a pioneering endoscopic surgical device to help improve survival of patients with life threatening infection following a leak from their gastrointestinal (GI) tract whilst significantly enhancing current treatment methods.
Leaks from the upper gastrointestinal (UGI) tract can occur following medical interventions such as surgery and endoscopy. Treatment of the leak is essential to prevent sepsis and potential mortality with an estimated 2,800 patients in the UK and 26,000 in the US requiring intervention.
Vacuum therapy has revolutionised the treatment of wounds and is being investigated to manage patients with UGI leaks to significantly improved patient outcomes and reduced hospital stay. The endoluminal vacuum device (ENDOVAC) meets this unmet need in addressing such UGI leaks and can be placed endoscopically through the defect in the bowel wall into the leak cavity to drain the infection, control the leak, and obliterates the leak cavity without recourse to surgery.
ENDOVAC™ is also backed by a £1.2m grant from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), which has a number of regional specialist partners including Health Enterprise East, Cambridge University Hospitals, the Cambridge Clinical Trials Unit and Suffolk-based JEB Technologies Ltd.
The technology was licensed to Medovate, a technology development company, in 2019 with plans to complete the product development and attain regulatory approvals. For more information visit https://www.medovate.co.uk/products/endovac.
Inventors
Mr Andrew Hindmarsh
NHS Organisation
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Award Amount
£125,000