‘Smart’ pump latest medical device created in Memphis

Esra Roan and Joshua Herwig pose for a portrait inside their office in Bartlett Aug. 17, 2021. They co-founded SOMAVAC Medical Solutions, a company that earlier this month received a patent for its continuous negative-pressure “smart” pump.

To the long list of medical devices created in Memphis, add the battery-powered pump that discreetly drains surgical wounds without the age-old accoutrement, the rubber bulb.

In early August, SOMAVAC Medical Solutions received a patent for its continuous negative-pressure “smart” pump. It’s as flat as an iPhone and is worn, attached by a belt, under the clothes.

Fluid from the wound is collected in a small plastic bag, marked with lines for measuring, attached to the pump. When it is full, the bag can be easily detached and thrown out or used as a sterile way to preserve the content for researchers.

“It is driven by a sensor, so it holds a given pressure setting,” said Esra Roan, CEO and co-founder of the company.

“It’s like a thermostat. Instead of you going there and turning it up and down, it holds the temperature for you. We are like that too.”

SOMAVAC has more than tripled its manufacturing space now to a 5,000-square-foot facility on Stage Post in Bartlett as it prepares to ramp up production and sales. It will cut the ribbon on its new facility Sept. 1.

Read the full article on The Daily Memphian here.