# Fluid Management System for Point of Care Device for Novel Regenerative Treatment for Chronic Wounds

> **NIH NIH R43** · POLARITYTE MD, INC. · 2020 · $244,894

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Medicare data indicates that more than 8 million beneficiaries had a wound or wound-related infection
impacting quality of life of seniors and estimated costs to the system of between $28.1B to $96.8B1 annually.
Development of novel treatments to address chronic wounds is an identified priority for the National Institute of
Aging. A unique FDA-registered regenerative product, an autologous homologous skin construct (AHSC)
(SkinTE™, PolarityTE, Inc., Salt Lake City, UT) has shown promise for the treatment of chronic wounds
including pressure ulcers, diabetic foot ulcers and lower extremity chronic wounds. Two open-label single arm
pilot studies have demonstrated the efficacy of the AHSC in treating diabetic foot ulcers and venous leg
ulcers (VLU)2,3,4. In these open-label trials, 91% of DFUs closed within 8 weeks and 80% of VLU’s had closed
within 12 weeks of a single treatment. Currently, clinical use of the AHSC requires a two-step procedure, first
taking a full-thickness skin harvest from the patient, which is shipped to PolarityTE MD’s biomanufacturing
facility where it is used to manufacture the AHSC, which is then returned to the clinician for application into the
wound. This two-step procedure creates challenges for patients in rural communities who must travel long
distances to access health care and return for the second procedure. Additionally, the increasing closure of
rural hospitals is reducing rural access to health care and puts more emphasis on outpatient office delivery of
care. Furthermore, market research has indicated that providing the AHSC “on-demand” in the clinician’s office
will increase the potential usage by 7%. In order to provide “on-demand” AHSC, we propose the development
of a table-top, portable, point-of-care (POC) device that would allow the manufacturing of AHSC in the
outpatient office, clinic, or remote hospital. Critical steps for AHSC processing include 1) washing of the skin
harvest to reduce bioburden and 2) processing the tissue with the addition of biocompatible solutions in a
manner to create the AHSC and impart certain desired characteristics, including certain handling
characteristics. This proposal addresses the technical challenges of developing a fluid management system of
the POC to ensure the manufacturing requirements for bioburden reduction and AHSC viscosity are achieved.
Currently bioburden is reduced through a series of manual washing steps. SPECIFIC AIM 1 will design and
test an automated washing system that meets or exceeds the bioburden reeducation requirements of the
current manufacturing process. The system must be capable of exchanging large volumes of fluid across the
skin harvest and then collect the fluid in a waste containment chamber. SPECIFIC AIM 2 will design and test a
fluid management system that can assess AHSC viscosity and adjust biocompatible fluid levels used during
processing to meet the viscosity requirements of the product to ensure optimal hand...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10082251
- **Project number:** 1R43NR019551-01
- **Recipient organization:** POLARITYTE MD, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** Kolby Day
- **Activity code:** R43 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $244,894
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-04 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10082251

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10082251, Fluid Management System for Point of Care Device for Novel Regenerative Treatment for Chronic Wounds (1R43NR019551-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-05 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10082251. Licensed CC0.

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