The product - called the Numobag after its creator and distributor, Numotech Inc. of Northridge, Calif. - was made commercially viable with the aid of inexpensive sensors and safety features developed at Sandia National Laboratories.
The heightened oxygen content helps oxidize, or burn up, organisms on the skin or in wounds, in addition to helping flesh itself heal. Tests of the Numobag have produced clinical evidence that the technique acts to minimize scarring and shorten treatment times for skin wounds, such as pressure ulcers, diabetic foot ulcers, severe burns, and plastic surgery.
The mobile, low-cost technique is of further interest to the military because it is also considered an effective treatment for smallpox and dermal anthrax.
"In other words," says Ray Shaum, a senior administrator at Sandia, "the same characteristics that make Topical Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (THOT) an effective treatment regimen for diabetes-related necrotizing fasciitis make it effective for treating biological-warfare related lesions."
In extreme cases, the tool could be used as a personal, inexpensive, and disposable isolation ward for the person being treated.
Because the process kills bacteria, expensive hospital disposal procedures are not needed and the bags are discarded as simple trash.
The official acceptance opens a huge government market. The Numobag also is currently used in hospitals in Florida and California, soon will be used at University of New Mexico Hospital, and by
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Contact: Neal Singer
505-845-7078
DOE/Sandia National Laboratories
23-Oct-2002