Healionics Receives SBIR Grant from National Institutes of Health to Develop Needle Free Dialysis Access Devices

Healionics Corporation has received a $224,500 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant award from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for preclinical studies to develop a novel vascular graft for use with needle-free hemodialysis access ports. Andrew Marshall, PhD, Healionics’ Chief Technology Officer, is the Principal Investigator for this research project.

Titled, “Vascular Grafts for Needle Free Dialysis Access Devices,” the grant provides one-year funding to develop Healionics’ new STARgraft - a vascular graft based on STAR biomaterial that shows promise to reduce thrombosis and infection issues.

“Our initial preclinical results showed that STARgraft is an exciting and promising approach to prevent thrombosis and infection, the most frequent causes of failure in dialysis access grafts,” says Marshall. “As part of a needle-free vascular access port device, the graft development could provide hemodialysis patients with a pain-free and safer mode of blood access than current options.”

About Healionics Corporation
Healionics develops and manufactures STAR Biomaterials for implanted medical devices. The precisely controlled pore structure of the innovative STAR technology induces a favorable integrated healing response, overcoming fibrotic reactions and infection issues to enhance medical device performance and longevity.