That’s a Wrap! A Journey of Clinical Translation from Galway to Gainesville

Date/Time
Date(s) - 04/11/2022
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Location
Communicore, C1-004 with simultaneous Zoom broadcast

Scott T. Robinson, M.D., Assistant Professor, Division of Vascular Surgery & Endovascular Therapy, College of Medicine, University of Florida

Venous leg ulcers (VLUs) are a significant burden on global healthcare systems, affecting 1% of the Western population. With an average healing time of 4 months, the estimated economic cost of VLUs in the United States is $14.9 billion annually. Compression therapy is the cornerstone of treatment of VLUs, but variation in application and inconsistent use reduces the effectiveness of this treatment. There is a critical need to enable improved application, maintenance, and self-management of evidence-based pressure during compression therapy of VLUs, for the benefit of patients and healthcare systems. We have developed a wireless pressure sensor (WPS) that can be used with commercially available compression wraps to consistently achieve a targeted sub-bandage pressure during application, while also allowing for pressure monitoring over time. We have demonstrated the capabilities of the WPS through benchtop testing and on healthy volunteers. We have further established that use of the WPS can help health care providers achieve a clinically relevant level of compression. We are now beginning a clinical trial that will utilize the WPS to 1) monitor the pressure during the initial application, and 2) assess the duration of clinically efficacious pressure during an initial period of supervised activity and an extended period of unstructured activity at home. Data obtained from these studies will ultimately allow us to reduce ulcer healing time in patients with VLUs.

 

Bio:

Dr. Scott T. Robinson is a vascular surgeon at the University of Florida and the Malcom Randolph VA Medical Center in Gainesville, Fl. Dr. Robinson earned his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from Union College in Schenectady, NY. He then completed his PhD in Biomedical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, and earned his MD from Emory University School of Medicine. Following medical school, he completed an integrated Vascular Surgery residency at the University of Michigan. During residency he also served as an EDGE – Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow at the Advanced Materials and BioEngineering Research (AMBER) Center in Galway, Ireland from 2017 to 2019.  Dr. Robinson’s clinical interests encompass a broad spectrum of vascular disease including abdominal aortic aneurysms, peripheral arterial disease, and cerebrovascular disease. His research interests include development of biomaterials and drug delivery systems for treatment of various arterial and venous pathologies. Dr. Robinson also has an interest in innovation and the commercialization of medical devices and has several patents pending for technologies he has helped develop. Dr. Robinson is a member of the Association of Academic Surgery, the American Heart Association, the Society for Vascular Surgery, the American College of Surgeons, and the American Medical Association.