Exsurco® Medical Launches Amalgatome® MD - A Breakthrough Skin Recovery Device for Tissue Banks

BIRMINGHAM, Ohio, July 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- According to national statistics published on donorcare.org, more than one million skin grafts are performed each year, aiding burn patients and those requiring reconstructive surgery due to trauma and disease. Unfortunately, another 500,000 patients would benefit each year from skin grafts if enough skin were available. Even as the demand for donor skin transplantation has continued to increase, tissue donation has remained deficient. In addition, there has been limited innovation in skin graft recovery techniques over the course of a century– until now. In an effort to increase the yields of quality skin grafts available to patients, Exsurco Medical, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bettcher Industries, is launching a breakthrough device for skin excision, the Amalgatome^® MD Skin Recovery Device, to the tissue bank industry.

"We recognized an unmet need to improve yields of transplantable skin from available donors. Our solution approached the challenge differently. By working closely with tissue banks to develop and innovate products that are better suited to their needs, Amalgatome MD – among other products – benefits our customers in ways they never thought possible with conventional methods," said Paul Pirozzola, Vice President of Marketing for Exsurco Medical.

Designed for cadaveric tissue bank use only, the Amalgatome MD offers the only technology of its kind in the tissue excision industry. Current skin recovery technology consists of using a flat-blade device, often called a dermatome, that requires moderate force by the technician, which at times can produce inconsistent skin grafts, and be fatiguing for the operator during a recovery.

One of many aspects of rotary technology is the improvement in the skin recovery technique, having a more maneuverable device that can access challenging, hard-to-reach areas. This increases the potential in overall yield i.e., more transplantable skin grafts that are used to treat severely burned patients and individuals requiring reconstructive surgery due to trauma or disease.

The increased maneuverability and smooth operation of the Amalgatome MD have proven to produce higher yields of split-thickness skin grafts, as reported by participating tissue bank sites that have tested the new technology. In fact, participating sites reported an average 45.8% decrease in discarded tissue when using the Amalgatome MD during donor recoveries compared to conventional dermatomes.* In addition, tissue banks using the Amalgatome MD reported an average donor recovery of 4.275 square feet, compared to an average of 3.875 square feet that is typical of donor recovery utilizing standard dermatomes.*

"While there have been positive strides made in tissue donation, thanks to effective awareness campaigns encouraging individuals to become organ and tissue donors, the need of all the patients who could benefit from tissue donations is still not being met. Knowing that tissue donation poses a supply/demand issue, innovative technology to increase the amount of transplantable skin grafts from available donors has become pivotal. Our new Amalgatome MD Skin Recovery Device offers a true solution to maximizing the amount of quality yields per donors, and producing more precise, consistent skin grafts," said Leslie Kozar, Product Marketing Manager for Exsurco Medical.

Exsurco is leveraging proven technology from Bettcher's trimming and defatting tools and equipment used in meat and food processing, to help tissue bank facilities maximize efficiencies with an innovative device that requires minimal maintenance and a single-use blade that can be used during an entire skin recovery. Exsurco's goal was to develop and offer tissue banks a longer lasting blade that would enable them to improve their efficiencies and reduce costs.

Features of Exsurco Medical, Inc.'s new Amalgatome MD include:

• Proprietary Edge-Retention Technology™ – the unique sharpening and coating combination preserves the edge of the tool throughout the entire tissue recovery process, reducing the overall number of blades used by the technician, which can number from 3-5 during a typical dermatome skin recovery.
• Controlled Depth Adjustments – increments of .001" and finer enable technicians to produce skin grafts from .005" up to .040."
• Specially Designed Depth Plate – allows technicians to maintain consistent excision depth and minimizes gouging, while recovering skin grafts up to 4" wide.
• Minimal Maintenance Design – The Amalgatome MD does not require calibration between each donor recovery, and only needs minimal preventative maintenance. Its medical-grade construction stands up to autoclave, and the single-use disposable blade helps prevent the risk of cross-contamination.

For more information about the new Amalgatome MD and Exsurco Medical, Inc., visit www.exsurco.com. To keep up with the latest news about Exsurco Medical, Inc., follow @exsurcomedical on Twitter.

About Exsurco Medical, Inc.
Exsurco Medical, Inc. is a leading-edge equipment manufacturer for medical applications, committed to improving excision science, by providing instruments for tissue processing that make life easier for technicians and clinicians. Based in Birmingham, Ohio, Exsurco Medical, Inc. provides the innovation needed to help improve and simplify procedures for tissue recovery for the medical community in ways that increase operator safety and comfort, and minimize fatigue, providing higher yields while reducing operating costs. Exsurco Medical, Inc. has developed the breakthrough skin debridement device, the Amalgatome^® SK; the Amalgatome^® MS for precision bone debridement; and Dermatome Replacement Blades. Backed by decades of inventive expertise and compassionate commitment, Exsurco Medical, Inc.'s excision and debridement innovations help restore dignity, confidence and optimism to the lives of both tissue bank personnel and to the patients that ultimately benefit from skin recovery. For more information about Exsurco Medical, Inc. and its products, visit www.exsurco.com.

*Editor's Note: The Amalgatome MD Skin Recovery Device has been subjected to a rigorous beta testing process to verify performance and quality. Beta testing was conducted in four different tissue banks, during which time 80 donor recoveries were conducted over the course of nine months. During the beta testing, 28 different technicians of varying levels of experience operated the Amalgatome MD Skin Recovery Device during a donor tissue recovery. Each test involved quantitative and qualitative assessments of both skin recovery and processing, including recording the volume and quality of recovered skin. Beta test results were analyzed against each tissue bank's previous year's data generated using conventional dermatomes to provide an accurate comparison. Further test result documentation available from Exsurco Medical, Inc.

SOURCE Exsurco Medical, Inc.