XaTek today announced a deal with the U.S. Navy to develop its ClotChip handheld blood coagulation reader for military deployment.
The reader measures a patient’s bleeding risk from one drop of blood from a fingerstick. It will be adapted to withstand excessive impact and vibration of trauma patient support. The adaptions will be validated in a dynamic operational environment on a U.S. Navy aircraft. XaTek also plans to make the ClotChip suited for civilian transport as well.
“The issues of transporting the severely injured patient within a military deployment setting can be compared to that of heavy trauma associated with some situations of everyday life – such as automobile accidents,” CEO John Zak said in a news release. “The ClotChip system could eventually be deployed in ambulances and on civilian patient transport helicopters — improving the delivery of care en route to the hospital.”
XaTek suggests that the use of the ClotChip could prevent death among trauma patients while promoting better use of blood products in the field deployment setting.
“Trauma-induced coagulopathy is a challenging and lethal paradigm, particularly in the austere and resource-constrained combat environment,” Sean Stuart, research director of the Combat Trauma Research Group at the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, said. “Having the ability to objectively assess a patient’s coagulation state in this setting can save lives.”
XaTek, CaseWestern Reserve University and Naval Medical Center Portsmouth will collaborate on the project.
