Lenexa Medical’s world-first technology to enable personalised pressure injury prevention has been listed on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods – and has the potential to save Australia’s health system billions every year.
Personalised, targeted pressure injury prevention.
Lenexa Medical has worked tirelessly for years to develop and test their technology that detects and monitors patient position and pressure to guide clinicians in preventing pressure injuries. Now, with newly announced regulatory approval from the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG), Lenexa Medical can begin supplying their life-changing technology to Australian healthcare providers.
“Lenexa Medical’s technology is the first of its kind to facilitate personalised and targeted pressure injury prevention.” –Ajit Ravindran, CEO, Lenexa Medical
“It provides clinicians and carers with vital information to reduce the incidence of pressure injuries,” said Ajit.
Harnessing the power of in-built sensors and smart software, the Lenexa Medical Quality-of-Care Pressure Injury Management System provides clinicians and carers with targeted real-time information to inform decisions, care and treatment.
The non-subjective information guides clinicians and carers in correctly positioning patients to prevent pressure injuries. Crucially, the technology also indicates when and where the risk of pressure injury is likely to develop.
Lenexa Medical’s launch to the Australian market is a vital step towards improving the quality of patient care and life outcomes, and towards reducing the cost burden of pressure injuries on Australia’s healthcare system.
The initial rollout of the Lenexa Medical Quality-of-Care Pressure Injury Management System to Australian healthcare providers is expected in 2022.
What are pressure injuries?
Lenexa Medical’s ARTG listing is an important step towards preventing pressure injuries (or bedsores) and their often devastating consequences. Pressure injuries are ulcers caused by pressure to the skin over a prolonged period of time and can develop in as little as two to three hours.
Many patients in ICUs, surgeries, long-stay wards, and frail adults in aged-care are at risk of developing pressure injuries.
Anyone who is bedridden, immobile in a chair or wheelchair, wearing a cast, unconscious or unable to sense pain can quickly develop pressure injuries. And those with circulation problems, diabetes, or poor nutrition are at higher risk.
Pressure injuries impact life outcomes.
Pressure injuries are often very slow to heal and can extend into a patient’s bones, muscles, tendons and joints.
Pressure injuries can take weeks, months or even years to heal.
The healing process can be influenced by the patient’s physical condition, and presence of other diseases such as diabetes. Sometimes the patient may even need surgery to help them to heal. Research shows that patients who acquire pressure injuries can experience longer stays in hospital, and can lose healthy life years.
Pressure injuries cost Australia billions every year.
Recent research published in The International Journal of Nursing Studies revealed the huge cost burden of pressure injuries.
The total cost of pressure injuries in Australian public hospitals in 2020 was approximately $9.11 billion.
Hospital-acquired pressure injuries accounted for over half of this total cost – $5.50 billion. And $3.59 billion was used to treat pressure injuries.
Reducing hospital-acquired pressure injuries by just 50 per cent, with the help of Lenexa Medical’s technology, would result in saving Australia’s hospitals $1.10 billion in treatment costs.
Pressure injury prevention is key.
Despite the prevalence and impact on the lives of patients, and cost burden on Australia’s health system, pressure injuries are mostly preventable. And this is where Lenexa Medical’s technology can bring about much needed change.
The challenge in preventing pressure injuries currently lies in delivering the right care, detection, and treatment methods – all at the right time.
Current methods are subjective and often inaccurate. As a result, early-stage pressure injuries develop easily, can be easy to miss, and are difficult to treat. But this is set to change with Lenexa Medical’s Australian rollout.
With ARTG regulatory approval, Lenexa Medical will place targeted, personalised pressure injury prevention and care in reach of Australia’s health and aged care systems. And this is news to celebrate – for individual patients and for Australia’s healthcare system.
Lenexa Medical x MedTech Actuator
The Lenexa Medical team joined the MedTech Actuator Accelerator in 2018 to take their pressure injury prevention concept to prototype stage, and to secure development funding. The team collaborated with accelerator program mentors to shape their go-to-market strategy.
Here’s what Lenexa Medical Chief Scientific Officer Will Yang had to say about the experience of being a part of the program, and fusing his biomedical engineering and research expertise with entrepreneurship:
“As a researcher, I saw that the pace of research can be slow. We had great ideas and wanted to run but were pulled back by factors like grant applications, limited funds and publishing. At the time, I thought that this pace was just normal.
But when I did the BioDesign Innovation Course at the University of Melbourne and subsequently got into the MedTech Actuator Accelerator, I understood how industry and commercialisation can accelerate the transformation of research into something that is tangible and that has an effect on people that need it.
I saw how fast it can be when you have inputs from the clinical, research and business sides and from a support network like the MedTech Actuator’s – guiding you on the connections you need to get to point B. It’s really about finding the right people who can help get you there.”
– Will Yang, Chief Scientific Officer, Lenexa Medical
Learn more about Lenexa Medical.