Background

ParaNano Wound Care is a pre-clinical company founded in 2018 directed towards the development and commercialization of an advanced wound care product line called the Bio-Z™. We hold the exclusive, worldwide patent rights to an extensive patent portfolio for the foundational technologies licensed from the University of Central Oklahoma and the University of Manitoba. We work closely with the named inventors on these patents to develop a wound care product that addresses a major gap in the wound care industry: there is no way to continuously monitor wounds for rising bacterial load- let alone one that is fast and easy to use in all care environments.

Problem

Infection in chronic wounds currently drives $27 billion of direct cost into the U.S. health care system[1], and comprises 3% of health care costs in developed countries, globally[2]. About 8.2 million Medicare beneficiaries had at least one type of wound or related infection, and that wound care is a $96.8 billion dollar burden on Medicare[3].  

Despite significant progress over the past decade in dealing with chronic (non-healing) wounds, there is an unaddressed gap in the wound care market. Specifically, during the time in between doctor appointments, there is no product available that provides continuous monitoring of a wound to detect a developing infection, or that provides treatment in response. When infection is left unchecked, healing is delayed, the wound will worsen, and there is greater risk for further wound complications including amputation, sepsis or death. For every 6-hour delay in the diagnosis of sepsis, patient survival rate decreases by 10%[4].

Solution

ParaNano has solved this problem with our Bio-Z™ Smart Bandage, a flexible nanofiber membrane that visually changes color when pathogenic activity is detected all with no wires, batteries, or cumbersome device. Our Bio-Z™ Smart Bandage provides continuous wound monitoring, so both a caregiver and the patient of any skill level can detect an infection in any setting- Truly Smart Wound Care.

The goal is to have an early intervention point- before the infection develops and spreads- resulting in expensive negative outcomes such as hospitalization, antibiotic overuse/resistance, sepsis, amputation, & death.