A multi-disciplinary team of experts have developed a user-friendly, audiovisual-enabled limb tourniquet that greatly improves the likelihood of correct application by the public. A correctly applied limb tourniquet can save the lives of people with severe injury. A series of studies have shown that conventional tourniquets on the market today are not intuitive for lay users, do not apply feedback, and are often applied incorrectly. LAVA TQ meets the immediate need for a public-friendly bleeding control device that can be used swiftly and successfully – even in the hands of an untrained user.

Applications and Advantages

• Can be sold in a variety of markets.

• In a multi-national randomized controlled trial, the public was four times more likely to apply the LAVA TQ correctly compared to the Combat Application Tourniquet.

• Builds upon study results of investigation of common tourniquet application failure points.

• Involves fewer, simpler steps than the average tourniquet, and is designed so that the user knows when the tourniquet is at the correct tightness. Audio and video clues are included.

• Unlike existing tourniquets, no pre-tightening is required; LAVA TQ eliminates this common failure point of traditional tourniquets.

• LAVA TQ offers all these enhancements compared to a conventional tourniquet while requiring fewer user actions in the application process.

Innovation Description

The market for this tourniquet is diverse and can include both civilian and military users. Injury is an “everyone, everyday” problem that can affect anyone in the civilian public or military. LAVA TQ can be used to treat life-threatening injuries that occur in everyday life from car accidents, sharp objects, machines, and many other causes.

LAV TQ can be co-located with automated external defibrillators, such as sports stadiums, shopping malls, gyms, industrial workplaces, military bases, office buildings, and other places where people congregate. It can also be used by law enforcement, prehospital emergency medical services crews, outpatient clinics, and a variety of other public and medical settings as part of a complete First Aid kit.

Trauma is the leading cause of death for Americans less than 45 years old, and bleeding is the main reason they die. A person can bleed to death very quickly; therefore, it may be critical for a member of the public to apply a tourniquet quickly before medical professionals arrive. The tourniquet must be applied correctly to work. Studies show that tourniquet use in the military has reduced the rate of death from extremity hemorrhage by 85 percent, and civilian studies have also shown reduced mortality. Recent studies have indicated a willingness for people to put tourniquets on injured people. The table below illustrates the success untrained laypeople have when applying the LAVA TQ.

Table: Factors Observed During Layperson Audiovisual Assist Tourniquet (LAVA TQ) and Combat Application Tourniquet (CAT) Application

Inventors

• Craig Goolsby, MD, MEd, MHCDS, FACEP, USU

• Jim Murphy, InnoVital Systems, Inc.

• Curt Stephen Kothera, PhD, InnoVital Systems, Inc.

Innovation Status

Prototypes have been produced and tested in two randomized controlled trials.

• Please see J. Am. Coll. Surg 2023 236(1):p 178-186, January 2023

• A second study of the LAVA TQ is currently under peer review:

Goolsby, C., Dacuyan-Faucher, N., Schuler, K., Lee, A., Shah, A., Cannon, J., Kothera, C. Blood Vessel Occlusion by Layperson Audiovisual Assist Tourniquet (LAVA TQ) Compared to Combat Application Tourniquet (CAT): A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Intellectual Property Status

A PCT patent application has been filed. Foreign patent protection is available.