XaTek, in cooperation with US Navy, to develop ruggedized ClotChip

CLEVELAND, June 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- XaTek Inc. today announced a deal with the U.S. Navy to ready its handheld blood coagulation reader, ClotChip, for military deployment. The Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA), which calls for XaTek to ruggedize ClotChip's device design in the next two years, was reached with the intent to spare military personnel from uncontrolled bleeding after traumatic injuries.

ClotChip, which measures a patient's bleeding risk from one drop of blood from a finger stick, will be adapted to withstand the excessive impact and vibration of trauma patient transport, particularly helicopter transfer. These adaptations, which will be validated in a dynamic operational environment aboard a U.S. Navy aircraft, will make ClotChip suited for civilian transport as well, notes Dr. John Zak, CEO of XaTek.

"The issues of transporting the severely injured patient within a military deployment setting can be compared to that of heavy trauma associated with some situations of everyday life – such as automobile accidents," Zak said. "The ClotChip system could eventually be deployed in ambulances and on civilian patient transport helicopters — improving the delivery of care in route to the hospital."

Traumatic injury is among the leading causes of death for military personnel, and in trauma cases overall, 1 in 5 deaths are preventable with proper care, according to the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine. Without proper clotting, the uncontrolled blood flow of a traumatic injury often leads to organ failure and, eventually, death. 

"Trauma-induced coagulopathy is a challenging and lethal paradigm, particularly in the austere and resource-constrained combat environment," says Dr. Sean Stuart, research director of the Combat Trauma Research Group at the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth. "Having the ability to objectively assess a patient's coagulation state in this setting can save lives."

Military use of ClotChip could not only prevent deaths among trauma patients but also promote better use of precious blood products in the field deployment setting.

The ClotChip project will be accomplished through collaboration among XaTek, Case Western Reserve University, and the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth. This project was recently recommended for funding through the Rapid Development and Translational Research Award, which is distributed by the Department of Defense's Combat Readiness-Medical Research Program.

About ClotChip
ClotChip is a handheld, fully portable blood coagulation reader enabled for WiFi and Bluetooth. The device utilizes technology conceived nearly 10 years ago by electrical engineers at Case Western Reserve University and researchers at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Cleveland, OH. In 2016, the university's technology transfer office granted an exclusive license to XaTek to develop the technology for commercial use.

About XaTek Inc.
XaTek Inc. is a privately held, clinical-stage diagnostic device company based in Cleveland, Ohio.
The company was founded on the mission of pursuing disruptive innovation that fulfills urgent and emergent healthcare needs. www.clotchip.com 

SOURCE XaTek