A Nashville woman has developed medical technology that will benefit those who suffer from bedsores.
Jessica Bussert, CEO of Bussert Medical Inc. and Wave Therapeutics, worked as an emergency room nurse for several years. About seven years ago, she received a patient with sepsis.
“He was basically on death’s door,” Bussert said. “He was a vet, who lost both of his legs to an IED in Afghanistan and had the worst bedsores I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Bussert was upset for the man’s situation, even more so when she found out his doctors had prescribed a $4,000 wheelchair cushion to aid the sores — which instead had gotten worse.
“That experience led me to find a better solution,” Bussert said.
That better solution is a combination of alternating pressure and sequential compression, whereas other devices on the market use a single process of alternating pressure. “By joining the two of those together,” Bussert said, “the leading researchers have told us that our product will be better than anything on the market.”
Not only will the combination of these methods form a product researchers endorse as effective, but the cost will be significantly lower. The suggested retail price? $300. “People can afford it, even without insurance,” Bussert said.
Wave Therapeutics is also looking to see what they can do to get the product made in Indiana and other Midwestern areas. They’re working with Triangle Rubber out of Goshen to make a rubber bladder, a key part in the device.
For years, this was Bussert’s pet project, doing things independently and making prototypes in Nashville. It began to grow into something larger that she could not do herself.
She brought on Dr. Ricardo Vasquez as chief medical officer. Vasquez is a board-certified vascular surgeon from the Vascular Center and Vein Clinic in Bloomington. They are currently interviewing for a chief operating officer and hope to bring more jobs to the area in the process.
The community has been supportive of Wave Therapeutics and their medical efforts. They received a small interest loan of $20,000 from the town in order to help with product development. “I appreciate the community standing behind the product that we have,” Bussert said.
Shas also met with directors at the Veteran’s Health Administration
According to Bussert, more than 60,000 people die from issues related to bedsores, and the problem costs the economy about $10 billion every year. “With an increasing population, that problem will only get worse,” Bussert said. “It has the potential to help a lot of people.”
Bussert anticipates the reach of the product being vast, with a patent application that allows for expanse in different areas. “Full mattress toppers, emergency stretchers, military and consumer marketplaces, office workers, truckers,” Bussert continued — “lots of opportunities before us.”
