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Effectiveness of dermaPACE™ Device and Standard Treatment Compared to Standard Treatment Alone for Diabetic Foot Ulcers

Use of the dermaPACE™ (Pulsed Acoustic Cellular Expression) Device in Conjunction With Standard of Care in the Treatment of Diabetic Foot Ulcers

Status
Completed
Phases
Phase 3
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT00536744
Enrollment
206
Registered
2007-09-28
Start date
2007-10-31
Completion date
2010-09-30
Last updated
2014-04-14

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Diabetic Foot Ulcers

Brief summary

The purpose of this study is to compare the safety and effectiveness of the dermaPACE Device to sham application, when administered in conjunction with standard treatments used in the treatment of DFUs.

Detailed description

The objective of this clinical study is to compare the safety and effectiveness of the dermaPACE (Pulsed Acoustic Cellular Expression) Device to sham application, when administered in conjunction with the standard of care, in the treatment of DFUs. Diabetic patients are susceptible to chronic foot ulcerations due to the effects of the diabetic's systemic disease halting the wound healing process. In the United States, 20.8 million people with active diabetes, and 41 million with pre-diabetic symptoms account for $132 billion dollars in healthcare costs per year. In 2002, 82,000 non-traumatic lower-limb amputations were performed on diabetics, corresponding to 60% of all lower limb amputations, usually preceded by a non-healing foot ulceration. Given the magnitude of this disease and the long-term effects and morbidity of amputation, DFUs require immediate and aggressive treatment to ascertain the best possible outcome for the diabetic patient. Despite the development of advanced wound care products, there is still a need to find the most effective treatment for reducing the time required to close a DFU. At any given time, 3-4% of diabetics (600,000 patients) have a foot ulcer, and $2.5 billion was spent in 2002 in the United States treating DFUs. The average cost for a single episode of a foot ulcer has been reported to be $4,595.00 to $28,691.00. Shock wave devices, which utilize acoustic pressure waves, have been used for about 30 years in urology for lithotripsy. In the last decade this technology has gained FDA approval to treat chronic plantar fasciitis and lateral epicondylitis conditions that do not respond to conservative treatments (OssaTron® SANUWAVE, manufacturer). Further, clinical reports have indicated efficacy in treating many other orthopedic conditions including pseudoarthroses, calcification of the joints and avascular necrosis. This technology has also been shown to promote healing in several wound-healing applications, and it is worthwhile to continue to seek the full potential of this technology in wound healing. Acoustic pressure waves initiate a biological response at the cellular level-stimulating production of angiogenic growth factors, including endothelial nitric oxide synthase (ENOS), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). These factors are important components of the normal wound healing process. This cellular activation and growth factor expression stimulated by acoustic pressure wave treatment could play a decisive role in overcoming cell quiescence and increasing growth factor titers to levels sufficient to overcome proteases. This leads to the in-growing of newly formed vessels, and the increased cellular proliferation and tissue regeneration needed to heal a wound. Clinical publications have recently reported the pressure wave induced mechanism described above can initiate and accelerate healing in burns, traumatic wounds and reconstructive skin flaps, and diabetic wounds. A pilot study using the dermaPACE device, performed in nine diabetic subjects with chronic leg ulcers has shown that this technology in patients with a history of chronic ulcers may achieve wound closure. Treatment with dermaPACE has the added benefits of being non-invasive and devoid of significant clinical side effects. Therefore, the objective of this study is to examine the safety and effectiveness of the dermaPACE acoustic pressure wave treatment device in combination with standard of care for the treatment of foot ulcers in diabetic patients. The dermaPACE should offer an improved non-invasive standard of care that may shorten an otherwise lengthy healing process and therefore make later operative measures unnecessary. Given that conservative therapy may not be effective, dermaPACE may become a preferable alternative that would carry minimal risk based on the expected clinical outcomes described in this protocol. dermaPACE may improve patient quality of life when conservative therapy is not effective as well as provide a cost savings for the health care system.

Interventions

DEVICEacoustical pulse energy (extracorporeal shockwave)

Acoustical pulse energy (extracorporeal shockwave) + Standard of care wound dressing.

OTHERSham

Non-energized (inactive - Sham) application + standard of care

Sponsors

SANUWAVE, Inc.
Lead SponsorINDUSTRY

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
TRIPLE (Subject, Caregiver, Investigator)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

Major Inclusion Criteria: * Male or female ≥ 18 years of age * Diabetes mellitus * One or more chronic foot ulcers (only one will be treated) that are located in the ankle area or below that has persisted a minimum of 30 days prior to the Screening visit * HbA1c ≤ 12% * Diabetic Foot Ulcers ≥ 1 cm2 and ≤ 16 cm2 * Ulcer Grade I or II, Stage A according to the University of Texas Diabetic Wound Classification system * Ankle Brachial Index (ABI) ≥ 0.7 and ≤ 1.2, OR toe pressure \> 50 mmHg, OR tcPO2\> 40 mmHg. Major

Exclusion criteria

* Subject is morbidly obese (Body Mass Index ≥ 40) * Subjects on dialysis * Diagnosis of foot ulcer involving osteomyelitis * Has evidence of prior ulcer in the same area * Multiple diabetic foot ulcers on the foot that either are connected by fistulas or are within 5 cm of the target ulcer * Subject's foot ulcer intended for study application has decreased in volume by 50% or more at the end of the two-week Run-in period as compared to the Screening visit.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frame
The Primary Variable for Effectiveness of the dermaPACE Device Will be Assessed by Comparing the Incidence of Complete Wound Closure of the dermaPACE and Control Groups 12 Weeks Post Initial Application.12 weeks post initial application

Secondary

MeasureTime frame
Time to Wound Closure, Wound Closure Area and Volume Between Active and Control 12 Weeks Post Initial Application, Subject Pain Assessment Between Active and Control 24 Weeks Post Initial Application12 weeks post initial application and 24 weeks post initial application

Countries

Germany, United Kingdom, United States

Participant flow

Participants by arm

ArmCount
dermaPACE Application + Standard of Care
dermaPACE: dermaPACE + Standard of care wound dressing.
107
Non-energized (Inactive) Application + Standard of Care
Sham: Sham treatment (non-energized, inactive device) + Standard of care wound dressing.
99
Total206

Withdrawals & dropouts

PeriodReasonFG000FG001
Overall StudyAdverse Event1310
Overall StudyDeath21
Overall StudyLost to Follow-up35
Overall StudyPhysician Decision31
Overall StudyPI tried alternative treatment13
Overall StudyWithdrawal by Subject78

Baseline characteristics

CharacteristicNon-energized (Inactive) Application + Standard of CareTotaldermaPACE Application + Standard of Care
Age, Continuous56.2 years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 9.4
58.3 years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 9.9
60.4 years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 10.4
Region of Enrollment
Germany
3 participants5 participants2 participants
Region of Enrollment
United Kingdom
2 participants4 participants2 participants
Region of Enrollment
United States
94 participants197 participants103 participants
Sex: Female, Male
Female
16 Participants40 Participants24 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Male
83 Participants166 Participants83 Participants

Adverse events

Event typeEG000
affected / at risk
EG001
affected / at risk
deaths
Total, all-cause mortality
— / —— / —
other
Total, other adverse events
54 / 10742 / 99
serious
Total, serious adverse events
34 / 10737 / 99

Outcome results

Primary

The Primary Variable for Effectiveness of the dermaPACE Device Will be Assessed by Comparing the Incidence of Complete Wound Closure of the dermaPACE and Control Groups 12 Weeks Post Initial Application.

Time frame: 12 weeks post initial application

Population: ITT

ArmMeasureValue (NUMBER)
dermaPACE Application + Standard of CareThe Primary Variable for Effectiveness of the dermaPACE Device Will be Assessed by Comparing the Incidence of Complete Wound Closure of the dermaPACE and Control Groups 12 Weeks Post Initial Application.22 participants
Non-energized (Inactive) Application + Standard of CareThe Primary Variable for Effectiveness of the dermaPACE Device Will be Assessed by Comparing the Incidence of Complete Wound Closure of the dermaPACE and Control Groups 12 Weeks Post Initial Application.15 participants
Secondary

Time to Wound Closure, Wound Closure Area and Volume Between Active and Control 12 Weeks Post Initial Application, Subject Pain Assessment Between Active and Control 24 Weeks Post Initial Application

Time frame: 12 weeks post initial application and 24 weeks post initial application

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026