Technology Elite Awards 2019

10 US BUSINESS NEWS / 2019 Technology Elite Awards , surgical procedures when they are at high risk due to factors such as sedation, complete immobilization, and very low blood pressure. By providing therapy in chairs and wheelchairs, the Guardian promotes movement out of bed and increases time seated upright, a therapeutic experience in itself. The TurnCare Guardian protects patients effectively from admission to discharge on every hospital surface they encounter. In clinical trials, the Guardian System has shown an 81% reduction in sacral hospital- acquired pressure injuries with high-risk acute care inpatients on alternating air beds as well as a 60% faster time to the complete healing of Stage 2 pressure injuries in long-term care patients. In the same trials, the Guardian System has also shown indications of systemic benefits unrelated to pressure injuries, including a 52% reduction in inpatient length of stay for patients with ischemic stroke and acute kidney injury. The Critical Care Product of the Year: TurnCare Guardian System Award-winning TurnCare creates and provides innovative critical care solutions for mobility- impaired patients. We profile the firmand its unique Guardian System to find out more about how it came to win one of our prestigious Technology Elite Awards for 2019. Sep19285 Created in 2011, TurnCare is the brainchild of Dr. Rafael Squitieri, Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport, CT, and Kim Orumchian, serial entrepreneur and technology expert. In the US, 11 million people have significant mobility-impairment. Extended periods of immobility (sitting or lying down) compromise the normal functioning of the circulatory system in the sacral (tailbone) region, leading to localized and systemic health problems. Initially, Dr. Squitieri was frustrated to see mobility-impaired patients, such as those undergoing long surgical procedures, develop secondary complications like pressure injuries. This despite clinicians’ best efforts and use of the latest therapeutic equipment to prevent such occurrences. Dr. Squitieri focused on the circulatory system’s critical role in health to create a technology that would relieve vascular compression in the sacral region, thereby preserving sacral blood flow and preventing the detrimental effects of ischemia and reperfusion injury. After four years of painstaking research and hundreds of prototypes, Dr. Squitieri and his interdisciplinary team developed the TurnCare Guardian System, which has been shown in clinical trials to have both local and systemic benefits, including: • prevention of hospital acquired pressure injuries • acceleration of the time to heal existing pressure injuries • reduction of the length of stay for ischemic stroke and acute kidney injury patients The Guardian System consists of an anatomy-specific, inflatable patient support surface, and a high-precision, computerized controller which are easily applied and managed on a variety of existing patient support surfaces. The system uses one of a kind Vasotactic technology, which considers not only the physiological characteristics of blood vessels in relation to prolonged, intense, and repetitive pressure, but also the anatomical position of the sacral blood vessels in relation to nearby bones. Through the unique anatomy-specific design of its inflatable surface and the high- precision, adaptive pressure management capabilities of its controller, the Guardian System runs a continuous, complex, proprietary patient support algorithm that provides precise pressure gradient therapy at all times. This unique approach helps prevent sacral vascular compression and avoid subsequent ischemia / reperfusion injury and associated local and systemic health complications. The Guardian System is different from current patient support products on the market. Most beds and cushions redistribute or alternate pressure underneath patients instead of focusing on how to use pressure to support patients intelligently, taking into account the specifics of their weight, movement, and anatomy. The TurnCare Guardian System is quickly and easily added to various patient surfaces, including beds, seats, wheelchairs, and procedure tables, allowing for continuous protection as patients move around the hospital. With the Guardian System, patients can receive therapy during long TurnCare