There are over two thousand workplace eye injuries each day, costing employers $467M each year. Patients with workplace eye wounds do not receive specialist attention for four to six hours post-injury, but injury-related inflammation that occurs during this time can cause irreversible damage that leads to permanent vision loss or disfigurement; ocular trauma is the leading cause of monocular blindness. TriaGel aims to preserve vision by providing immediate support, protection, and therapy at the point-of-injury. The gel is easy to administer in any prehospital setting, and has the potential to minimize the complexity of the injury, lowering average treatment costs from $55,000 to $800. In addition to the $2.4 billion trauma market, our injectable gel technology could also be applied to aesthetics and reconstruction, leading to significantly more value after initial IDE approval and clinical testing.
Description
Our unique injectable thermoresponsive gel transitions from a liquid to a stable solid upon dermal application in under 5 seconds. This material is non-degradable, conforms to the volume of the damaged tissue, and provides immediate treatment via absorptive therapeutic drugs, leading to less swelling and quicker stabilization of the eye, allowing for more immediate evaluation and treatment by a physician. TriaGel is protective, but allows nutrients and oxygen to permeate, and is easily removed and requires no specialized equipment or training to use. These key features showcase the unique value that our injectable gel technology can deliver to first responders, ophthalmologists, and other specialists.
Applications
· Actively and immediately manage acute ocular and periorbital injuries
· Minimize risk of infection, inflammation, and scarring via the continual release of therapeutic drugs
· Reconstructive and aesthetic augmentation for a variety of periocular and facial pathologies
Advantages
· Only comprehensive ocular trauma management device
· Quick and convenient topical administration
· Facilitates normal wound healing
· Sustained delivery of anti-inflammatory drugs for six hours
· Reduces injury complexity and surgical costs
· Improves patient outcomes
· Inexpensive and simple manufacturing
Invention Readiness
Preclinical safety evaluation and efficacy testing in large animal ocular trauma models
IP Status
https://patents.google.com/patent/WO2019099630A1
