This inexpensive device is a plastic clamp that cuts, seals, and disinfects an umbilical cord in a single step. After the cord is severed, SafeSnip breaks in two. Half the device stays firmly clamped onto the baby’s umbilical cord to seal the wound while the other half is discarded. The SafeSnip could prevent millions of infection-related neonatal deaths in developing countries. A Tulane University team that includes bioengineering graduate students invented and is patenting the device. 

 

4-10-10  The team now called INOvate Technologies is already going for FDA approval (they commercialize medical technologies that address global health issues).  Price point is 40% lower than the current procedure.  They are also working already with Bangladesh and they are aiming to begin to market the product first in Bangladesh and Brazil, among others, before getting FDA approval here.

A new article on SafeSnip is here: http://www.futurity.org/health-medicine/clip-offers-newborns-a-healthy-start/#more-3989