The Wound Company Launches In Bid To End America’s Costly Amputations Epidemic

By Gus Alexiou (Forbes)

Whilst many long-term disabilities arise as an unavoidable consequence of chronic disease or sudden traumatic injury – in America today, there are sadly many others that could have been avoided if the individual concerned simply had access to more effective healthcare monitoring.

Lower limb amputation due to conditions such as diabetic foot ulcers and vascular disease have, in recent years, propelled the U.S. into something of an amputation epidemic. Today, there are more than double the number of amputations taking place in America than occurred during the civil war. Every 3 minutes and 30 seconds, a limb is amputated in the United States due to diabetes. There were over 154,000 diabetes-related amputations that took place in the United States last year – a 75% increase in just a decade.

Not entirely unexpectedly, these issues have a massively deleterious impact on individuals with preexisting health conditions and disabilities but there are racial and economic factors at play here too with black diabetic patients losing their limbs to avoidable injury and infection at a higher rate than their white counterparts.

Emerging from stealth this week with a $4.25 million seed funding injection from Susa Ventures and Sozo Ventures, Minneapolis-based health tech startup The Wound Company has its sights firmly set on putting this worrying trend into reverse by reaching patients at a heightened risk of infection and amputation at the earliest possible juncture. To attain this goal, the company intends to merge leading-edge algorithmic identification tools and data processing with best-in-class expert nursing care and oversight to address the needs of patients most at risk.

Read on for the full story.

Source: Forbes // See original post here.