QuickStitch provides wound closure that is superior to sutures and skin staples. The device is faster and easier than sutures – without the poor cosmetic results, risk of infection and pain associated with a stapler.

Origins

Over 700 000 operations are carried out daily, each leaving a wound that is usually closed with sutures or staples. Sutures take more time, which has a financial cost and increases risk of complications as a result of extending length of anaesthesia. Skin staples are faster, but they can double the risk of wound infection, have worse cosmetic results and increase pain. As a child, the founder of QuickStitch underwent several surgeries and recalls staple closures as the only unpleasant memory from his hospital stays.

Team

Cyrus Doctor, the founder and project lead, a trauma and orthopaedic surgeon with over 11 years’ surgical experience, worked on his concept in the EIT Health Bioinnovate Fellowship. Travis Davis was working as a rocket scientist at NASA when he became interested in the project. He brings a strong mechanical background to the role of Technical Lead. Genesis Biomed is assisting in project development and commercialisation.

The project

QuickStitch’s solution will allow surgical and traumatic wounds to be closed more quickly, and with greater ease for doctors, while improving cosmetic results, lowering risk of infection and reducing post-operative pain. The solution is an improvement on sutures and staples. In time, and with the correct partnerships, QuickStitch’s solution will become the gold standard method of wound closure for most surgical procedures.

The EIT Health project is intended to help QuickStitch achieve commercial and technical milestones. The EIT Health partnership makes it possible to complete a business plan, define the route to market and make the project investor-ready.

On a technical side, EIT Health support will allow the team to optimise the device design for manufacture, and help it to complete most major milestones required for the FDA regulatory approval that is necessary for entry into the US market.

Impact

Almost everyone reading this will at some point in their lives have a wound that will require closure, and they stand to benefit. For patients, the solution promises fewer infections and better cosmetic results as the wounds heal. For surgeons, the solution promises a fast and easy way to close wounds, reducing surgeon fatigue and saving time. The healthcare system benefits from cost savings because surgeons’ work more quickly and there are fewer post-surgery complications.

Why this is an EIT Health project

The use of a new innovation to reduce costs and make progress in the level of care is at the core of EIT Health’s mission. By promising to improve the treatment and healing of wounds, QuickStitch’s solution is in keeping with the EIT Health Focus Area of “Improving Care Pathways”.