Spun-out med device firm Novuson Surgical said today it won $1.47m through a Phase 2 SBIR grant from the National Institute of Health’s National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
Money came as part of a program to develop a novel approach to mitigating the effects of perioperative bleeding in surgically reconstructed great vessels in neonates through the use of Ultrasound, the Bothell, Wash.-based company said.
“Our overarching research objective is to mitigate the effects of perioperative bleeding in surgically reconstructed great vessels, thus reducing the perinatal morbidity and mortality associated with surgical procedures. We are honored that the NHLBI has awarded us this grant. We believe that this technology will have a significant positive impact on patient outcomes. The reconstruction of the aortic arch in children with severe congenital heart disease often requires transection of the great vessels. Due to the complex nature of the repair, the anatomy of the neonatal arch, and the anti-coagulation regimen that is required during the cardio-pulmonary bypass, perioperative bleeding is a significant, important and frequent complication. There is a critical, unmet clinical need for an effective method to effect perioperative hemostasis in such patients,” chief scientific officer Stuart Mitchell said in a press release.
Funds from the grant will support further development of the company’s direct therapeutic ultrasound energy device designed for cauterization and hemostatic control.
Novuson is a spinout from the University of Washington’s Applied Physics Laboratory’s Center for Industrial and Medical Ultrasound, the company said.