A Futuristic and Time-Saving Wound Closure Device

The design of the microMend is conceptually similar to a bandage, like Steri-Strip. The device is made of a thin adhesive backing with two arrays of tiny “microstaples” on either side. It is placed across a wound, one side at a time, so that the microstaples can insert into the skin and align the two edges of a wound. The device is flexible enough to allow conformity to a patient’s movements, and it has a holding strength similar to that of sutures. The microstaples are supposedly painless, and the device can last for as long as it takes for the wound to heal.

The concept was first envisioned by Dr. Ron Berenson, a medical doctor by training and a biotech and medical device entrepreneur for more than 25 years. He was serving as entrepreneur-in-residence at University of Washington’s innovation hub in 2012. While there, he was inspired by UW professor Dr. Marco Rolandi, who was working on a project using tiny chitosan microneedles to heal wounds. “Although we ended up using metal rather than chitosan, Dr. Rolandi’s research got me thinking about the use of microneedles to close wounds,” says Berenson. KitoTech Medical was incorporated later that year, with Berenson as CEO, and research began in earnest.

Since then, the company has finalized its design, found manufacturing partners, and completed initial clinical studies with promising results. The company is currently overseeing more clinical studies with about a dozen physicians across several medical specialties, to generate more data on how microMend compares to sutures and staples.

For the patient, microMend confers many advantages. Its tensile strength is almost the same as sutures, but it can close wounds two to three times faster. It leaves a much smaller scar than do sutures or staples. The two-millimeter spacing between each microstaple maintains an even distribution of tension that reduces inflammation and scarring, and provides a more effective barrier that protects the patient from infection.