Mechanical Negative Pressure Wound Therapy for Low Resource Settings

Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is a wound healing method that involves inducing negative pressure on an injury in order to advance the rate of healing, with increasing market trends. NPWT has been shown to decrease infections and edema, limit blood pooling, remove excess fluid, and improve wound closure in specific wound types. Currently, NPWT devices are not widely accessible in low-resource settings since modern commercial options are typically expensive, single-use, and have electric power supplies. To combat these issues, ACE NPWT is a purely mechanical apparatus, serving as an alternative to motorized NPWT devices. A pump mechanism with two one-way valves is used to create constant negative pressure in the wound. Furthermore, ACE NPWT is intended to be a reusable and portable device that lowers cost and increases availability in areas with limited resources. Preliminary testing was conducted using a functional model on an artificial wound. Results demonstrated sustained negative pressure within the recommended range (-80 to -170 mmHg) for at least 48 hours. Overall, ACE NPWT is a portable, reusable, non-electric, and cost-effective alternative to those currently on the market and has the potential to increase the availability of negative pressure wound healing methods in low-resource settings