23 Nov Partner-With-Us – and find out what the geko™ device can do for your patients
We are seeking senior level tissue viability nurses (TVNs), willing to embrace and drive innovation advance, to join our Partner-With-Us program.
The Partner-With-Us program precedes the imminent publication of a statistically significant randomised controlled study that compares the rate of wound healing in chronic venous leg ulcer patients receiving the geko™ device as an adjunct to compression therapy, compared to compression therapy alone.
The burden
Chronic wounds represent a silent epidemic, affecting millions of adults worldwide every year, posing major threats to patients’ health as well as the global economy. Venous leg ulcers make up 80 percent of all leg ulcer cases, contributing significantly to wound care costs.
Adherence rates of 12 to 52 percent indicate many patients do not reap the health benefits of compression therapy – the current standard of care.
About the Partner-With-Us program
The Partner-With-Us program is seeking senior level TVNs prepared to think differently – those willing to embrace innovation to challenge the status quo. Innovation disruption purposefully shifts from ‘what is’, to ‘what can be’, to ‘what will be’. Our program speaks to the latter and will provide participating TVNs with:
- Early access to evaluate the geko™ device
- RCN accredited user training
- The opportunity – through comprehensive support – to generate and present patient use data at a local and national level
A wearable technology, and an adjunct to compression therapy, the geko™ device delivers a gentle intermittent electrical pulse, once per second, to the common peroneal nerve, eliciting a muscular twitch that activates the calf and foot muscle pumps. This activation increases venous, arterial, and microvascular blood flow, transporting oxygenated blood to the wound bed and edge to promote wound healing.
A case series evaluation conducted by Professor Keith Harding, at the Welsh Wound Innovation Centre (WWIC) in Cardiff (UK), investigated the therapeutic effect of the geko™ device on wound healing outcomes over an eight-week period. Findings support use of the geko™ device in patients with painful venous and mixed leg ulceration in conjunction with best practice standard care. The geko™ device was effective in reducing the wound surface area and increasing the mean percentage of granulation tissue formation. More than half of patients also reported a substantial reduction in wound pain.
Recent studies by Das and Bosanquet explore the effect of neuromuscular electrostimulation (NMES), via common peroneal nerve stimulation, to increase blood flow within the wound edge and bed of leg ulcer patients. Both studies measured flux and pulsatility, key elements associated with wound healing and report significant increases in both – the latter is of particular pertinence, since pulsatile flow is a predicter of wound healing. The augmentative effect of NMES on the microcirculation, both in terms of flux and pulsatility, provide a mechanistic insight into its value in wound healing.
If you would like to know more about the Partner-With-Us program, and what the geko™ device can do for your patients, please email: Fiona.Young@firstkindmedical.com
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