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Background

Chest tube insertion is needed in over a million patients each year and can lead to severe bleeding complications in patients who are at elevated risk, such as those on blood thinners, with liver failure, or on mechanical circulatory support platforms (~20%). The bleeding tends to occur from the highly friable muscle and pleural tissue deep inside a tract, and flows into the chest, which makes it nearly impossible to treat effectively from the outside without going to the operating room. Over time, the blood can collect inside the chest cavity, leading to complications such as infection, shock, or tamponade. The current standard of care is to wait for the bleeding to stop on its own with supportive measures, which incurs significant morbidity and cost. But there is no device on the market that can aid in hemostasis without an operation.

Proposed Healthcare Solution

A chest tube that can treat its own bleeding complications

Development Stage

Prototype Development

Funding Cycle

2021-2022

Team

William J. Vernick, MD
Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care

Jacob Gutsche, MD
Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care

Jason Han, MD
Division of Cardiovascular Surgery

 

For more information on this technology, please contact Penn Center for Innovation at pciinfo@pci.upenn.edu.