Sky Scoops Innovation Award at the Medilink North of England Healthcare Business Awards 2020
DARESBURY, England, Feb. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sky Medical Technology, a UK-based medical devices company and manufacturer of the geko™ device, has today announced its pride in being crowned winner of the Innovation Award at the prestigious Medilink North of England Healthcare Business Awards 2020.
The Medilink Innovation Award recognises Sky's successful partnership with the NHS Royal Stoke University Hospital in generating compelling real-world data that has reported a zero VTE incidence (venous thromboembolism) in immobile acute Stroke patients prescribed the geko™ device alone - data that has changed clinical practice at the Royal Stoke, driven wider NHS adoption across multiple acute Stroke units and critically, helped Sky achieve FDA 510(k) clearance in the US, making geko™ the first device of its kind to be cleared by the FDA for VTE prevention across all patients, including non-surgical patients - and a first new approach in 20 years
With VTE proving a major risk to hospitalised patients – estimates put the number of deaths at 40,000 in England annually, 62 per cent of which are preventable given proper management – acute Stroke patients are a high at-risk population due to reduced mobility.
Collecting the award, Sky CCO Andrew Thelwell said, "I would like to thank Medilink for recognising excellence in technology deployment achieved through outstanding industry and NHS partnering. Partnership makes us who we are and we are enormously proud to bring to market an innovative therapy that completely redefines the way VTE prevention and vascular related conditions can now be treated and to have achieved this in partnership with the Royal Stoke Hospital acute Stroke team."
Commenting on the award, Sky Founder and CEO Bernard Ross said, "Thank you Medilink. We are extremely proud to again be recognised, this time with the prestigious Innovation Award. Not only does it celebrate world-class design and our mission to make prevention easy in stopping life threatening blood clots, it also recognises the high priority we place on partnering with our NHS colleagues who, on top of their full-time jobs, and in a challenging environment, are willing to give-up additional time in pursuit of innovation for the improvement of patient care. It is to the Royal Stoke acute Stroke team that we owe our sincere thanks for the compelling data they have generated to prove geko™ device efficacy. It is to them we dedicate this award."
The investigators, led by Dr. Indira Natarajan, Consultant Stroke Physician and Clinical Director for Neurosciences and Professor Christine Roffe, qualified that 30% of their acute Stroke patients are contraindicated or became intolerant to SCDs (sequential compression devices). It is to this unmet need cohort they fitted the geko™ device, reporting a zero VTE incidence at 90 days and good patient tolerance. Their findings have accelerated geko™ device adoption across multiple NHS trusts and international markets, as well as expanded FDA clearances for the prevention of VTE.
Sky will now go forward to the Medilink UK Healthcare Business Awards, with the hope to be crowned national winner at the prestigious awards ceremony on the 1st of April 2020, at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole, located in the NEC. Hosted annually, in association with Med-Tech Innovation (MTI), the Medilink awards celebrate the outstanding business achievements, international successes and innovative breakthroughs made across the Life Sciences and Healthcare Technology sectors in the past year.
At the Med-Tech Innovation EXPO, which hosts the Medilink Awards ceremony, Sky will present how the geko™ device was conceived and the R&D processes and challenges in bringing innovation to market, on the HealthTech stage, D80, at 1.00pm – 1.30pm, as part of the conference track dedicated to wearables. https://med-techexpo.com/event/en/node/biringing-to-market:-the-geko-device.
MTI EXPO is a showcase for medical design and manufacturing technology, taking place 1-2 April 2020 at the NEC, Birmingham Med-Tech Innovation Expo.
About the geko™ device
Through its innovative mechanism of bioelectronic neuromuscular electrostimulation, the geko™ device gently stimulates the common peroneal nerve activating the calf and foot muscle pumps, resulting in increased blood flow in the deep veins of the calf. The size of a wrist-watch and worn at the knee, the easy-to-use geko™ device operates without external pressure to the leg and allows complete patient mobility.
About Sky Medical Technology Ltd and Firstkind Ltd.
Sky Medical Technology Ltd, is a UK-based medical devices company and parent company of Firstkind Ltd, the marketing arm of Sky. Through its innovative mechanism of non-invasive neuromuscular electrostimulation, the Company has developed a ground-breaking bioelectronic technology platform, OnPulse™, embedded in its industry-leading brand, the geko™ device. The company develops a range of wearable therapy devices tailored to the needs of different medical application areas, selling through strategic partnerships and distributors in each application area. Clinical areas of interest include DVT prevention, oedema management and wound healing. The goal in each pathway is to partner with healthcare professionals to improve clinical outcomes and patient care whilst saving health system resources.
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Media Contact:
Sue Davenport
VP Marketing Communications
Sky Medical Technology Ltd
Hawk House
Peregrine Business Park
High Wycombe
Buckinghamshire
Bucks
HP13 7DL
+44 (0)149-457-2044
www.gekodevices.com
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