ActiPatch Therapy Designed to Heal Wounds, Reduce Pain and Swelling and Restore Patients to Normal Faster

FREDERICK, Md. -- BioElectronics Corporation announced today a new breakthrough product -- ActiPatch Therapy that is designed to reduce swelling and accelerate healing of surgical wounds and accidental injuries.

"ActiPatch Therapy delivers a proven medical treatment at a breakthrough price and with unprecedented convenience," said Andrew J. Whelan, CEO of BioElectronics Corporation. "Until today, this therapy typically cost over a hundred of dollars for a single treatment. Our patch delivers 10 days of therapy for only $49.95," Whelan said. ActiPatch Therapy uses small patches to deliver a pulsed electromagnetic therapy directly to the site of a surgical wound or an accidental injury.

Unveiled this week at the annual meeting of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, ActiPatch will restore plastic surgery patients to normal days faster. "One study of the effect on patients following corrective surgery of the delicate eye lid tissue showed that ActiPatch Therapy reduced pain, swelling and bruising on average 3 days faster than the untreated," Whelan said. "ActiPatch Therapy eliminates the swelling that causes pain and bruising and can complicate surgical healing by putting pressure on surgical stitches or closings."

Approved by the FDA for post surgical application, the little, wearable patches deliver to the wound an induced electric current that reduces the swelling and pain. Pulsed electromagnetic therapy has been used for decades to reduce pain and promote healing on surgical wounds, sprains and strains.

BioElectronics Corporation is a privately held Maryland-based corporation with research and development facilities in Houston, Texas. The corporation has developed and is currently introducing a portfolio of products that will transform the established medical treatment of soft tissue trauma. Its products are portable, disposable and noninvasive medical devices that are clinically documented to accelerate healing, reduce swelling and alleviate the pain associated with trauma to cells.

When a body receives an injury during surgery, or from trauma such as a sprain, there is little danger of infection. Nevertheless the body will react to the injury to prevent an infection. This response is referred to as the "inflammatory process" and consists of a rapid onset tissue destruction phase followed by a longer duration tissue repair phase. The initial destruction phase is evidenced by redness, heat, swelling, and pain in the tissue. These characteristics of inflammation result from the rapid dilation of blood vessels in the immediate vicinity of the injury and increased leakiness of these vessels. This rapid response permits fluid and protein to flow into the region, resulting in a disruption of communication among the cells of the tissue. This tissue disruption serves little purpose in non-infected trauma or aseptic post-surgical applications. In fact, for surgical wounds, inflammation is usually more damaging than helpful.

To enhance the healing of non-infected injuries, the therapeutic goal is to induce the tissue to rapidly pass through, or bypass, the tissue-damaging phase of the inflammatory process and move to the mode of tissue repair. ActiPatch Therapy produces an induced electrical current in the injured tissue region that serves to inhibit swelling. The therapy has the following beneficial effects:

* Precludes or truncates the inflammation phase

* Restores a synchronization signal among the cells of the injured tissue

* Provides cell-cell "communication" over an area at least four times

larger than the patch area

* Penetrates through the epidermis and dermis to involve the underlying

musculature

ActiPatch Therapy causes measurable changes to the regional cell population. Cell communication is restored through the electrical interconnection of the cells. Because cells are reconnected and re-synchronized, normal cell function is rapidly restored and healing is accelerated. The outcomes include several advantages to the patient during healing:

* Edema is reduced which reduces the pain

* New matrix formation is organized, reducing scarring and enhancing

tensile strength

* Lymphatic flow is enhanced, resulting in reduction of bruising

In untreated healing, the formation of new matrix can be haphazard and chaotic. If the new matrix is organized the healed wound is stronger and requires less remodeling. One visible effect of ActiPatch Therapy is to ensure the physical alignment of the cells and newly formed matrix. At the same time, enhanced lymphatic flow cleans up the wound area. Dead cells and interstitial protein are more rapidly removed, improving the wound's appearance.

In the final stage of healing, remodeling, the newly formed matrix is reorganized in an ongoing process. ActiPatch Therapy reduces the need for extensive remodeling and supports the necessary remodeling by improving the alignment of the cells, thereby minimizing the appearance of scars and improving the strength of the regenerated tissue.

For decades physicians and therapists have used pulsed electromagnetic therapy to reduce swelling, relieve pain and enhance the healing of surgical injuries, accidental wounds, sprains strains, and even chronic wounds like bedsores. Now, BioElectronics Corporation has used advanced microelectronics to create ActiPatch Therapy. These little patches, the smallest, Model 250, is only 2.5 cm by 4.0 cm (1 inch by 1.5 inches) deliver equivalent healing as the large appliances, but in a more convenient and cost-effective method. The patch goes right over the wound and the stays there providing continuous treatment right where it is needed. Rather than a hundred dollars for a single treatment, ActiPatch Therapy provides 10 days of treatment for $49.95. The FDA approved ActiPatch Therapy for reducing edema in soft tissues following blepharoplasty.

Source: BioElectronics Corporation