TAKOMA PARK, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--US Patent Innovations, LLC (USPI), a private biomedical devices company, announced today that it signed a five-year research agreement with The George Washington University of Washington, D.C. (GWU) on February 6, 2013. Under the agreement, USPI will provide funding for collaborative research exploring the mechanisms of plasma cutting and coagulation of biological tissue, with the goal of developing a set of devices utilizing both Cold and Hybrid Plasma applications in surgery. The research project will be led by principal investigator Dr. Michael Keidar of GWU's Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, and co-investigator Jerome Canady, M.D., Director of Research at Plasma Medicine Life Science, LLC, a new subsidiary of USPI.
The new plasma devices will complement the Canady Plasma® and Canady Vieira Hybrid PlasmaTM lines of products already in distribution by USPI's subsidiary, US Medical Innovations, LLC (USMI) and by WEM Equipamentos Electronicos LTDA (Ribeirao Preto - Sao Paulo, Brazil). These devices utilize a breakthrough approach to electrosurgery, known as "Hybrid Plasma Technology," permitting surgery with virtually no blood loss and without the use of a traditional scalpel blade.
Commenting on the agreement, Dr. Canady said, "This exciting development enhances our recent Technology Transfer Agreement with GWU and Johns Hopkins University. The resulting research surrounding Cold Plasma devices for the selective eradication of cancer cells, together with our Hybrid Plasma Technology development efforts with WEM, will provide a platform for new product development that will impact the manner in which surgery as well as cancer treatments are performed in the future."