HemoSonics, LLC, a medical device company focused on acute bleeding management, announced it has been awarded one of the $525,000 grand prizes in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) RADx Tech for Maternal Health Challenge. NIH's RADx Tech for Maternal Health Challenge sought to accelerate the development of innovative diagnostic tools and solutions to address the maternal mortality crisis.
HemoSonics was selected for its research and efforts in understanding how its Quantra Hemostasis System may help to improve the management of peripartum bleeding in obstetric patients. Eight winning teams were selected from over 80 initial submissions. Each team successfully progressed through two years of performance assessment that yielded milestone-based interim awards.
Severe bleeding after childbirth (postpartum hemorrhage) is the leading cause of maternal mortality worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. Roughly 14 million women experience PPH annually, and approximately 70,000 die as a result. This problem does not just affect developing nations. The United States reports 21.1 deaths per 100,000 live births, almost twice the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development average, with more than 10% of maternal deaths due to bleeding.
"It is a tremendous validation to receive the RADx award and recognition from NIH to help support research for how the Quantra Hemostasis System may help obstetric patients," said HemoSonics' President and CEO Bob Roda. "Along with the other winners, HemoSonics will work tirelessly to advance technologies that help women have safe and healthy deliveries, wherever they may live, and to improve overall maternal health."
HemoSonics' Quantra System is FDA-cleared for use in cardiovascular surgery, trauma, liver transplantation, and major orthopedic surgery. It enables hospitals to standardize to a viscoelastic testing program that is clinically and operationally efficient. HemoSonics' Quantra Hemostasis System consists of the Quantra Hemostasis Analyzer with QPlus and QStat Cartridges, which provide clinicians with information to inform patient-centered decisions on bleeding management that improve care and optimize blood product usage. The Quantra System uses innovative SEER Sonorheometry (Sonic Estimation of Elasticity via Resonance), a proprietary medical-grade ultrasound technology that measures the coagulation properties of a whole blood sample. The System requires minimal resources to maintain, is easy to operate and interpret, and provides fast, comprehensive whole-blood coagulation analysis at the point of care or in laboratory-based settings, typically in less than 15 minutes.
The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, the National Institute of Nursing Research and the NIH Office of Research on Women's Health co-sponsored the RADx Tech for Maternal Health Challenge as part of the NIH's Implementing a Maternal Health and Pregnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone (IMPROVE) initiative.
Launched in 2019 by the NIH in response to high rates of pregnancy-related complications and deaths, the IMPROVE initiative supports research to reduce preventable causes of maternal deaths and to improve health for women before, during and after pregnancy. IMPROVE addresses the leading causes of pregnancy-related Maternal Morbidity and Mortality (MMM) and severe maternal morbidity (SMM), such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension, hemorrhage, mental health disorders, substance use, and infectious disease. The initiative includes a special emphasis on health disparities and populations that are disproportionately affected by severe pregnancy complications and maternal death, such as racial and ethnic minorities, very young women, women of advanced maternal age and people with disabilities.
For more information please visit, www.HemoSonics.com
