Approximately 5 million people in the United States exhibit some evidence of chronic venous insufficiency and between 400,000 and 500,000 of these individuals have or will develop venous leg ulcers that are associated with recurrent hospitalization, high health care costs, and disability. 50% of venous ulcers may be present for 7-9 months. Between 8-34% may be present for greater than 5 years, and between 67-75% of patients have recurrent problems. Compression of the lower extremity is the mainstay of therapy in patients with CVI. Compression techniques have been used in multiple different treatment regimens with modest success. While compression can be effective, it requires strong patient compliance, which is often difficult to obtain. RBDC proposes to develop a new generation compression system - """"""""Slip on Compression (SOC)"""""""", that is suitable for both prevention and treatment of CVI wounds. The SOC will be easy for the unassisted patient to put on and take off, provide appropriate, consistent, continuous gradient compression, be comfortable and safe, and work synergistically with new wound-healing compounds.
SOC addresses a very large and growing market of individuals suffering from CVI and venous leg ulcers. Not only is the market large, but it consumes a significant portion of health care dollars. Affecting approximately 5 million Americans and 1-3% of the elderly, the market for this device is substantial. If SOC proves efficacious, its' low cost and ease of use will allow for significant market penetration.
