Tricol Biomedical
The Power Of Chito+™ To Address Hemostasis In And Out Of The Hospital Setting

A group out of Oregon Health & Science University started Tricol Biomedical in 2001, a medical device company headquartered in Portland with a primary directive to achieve zero preventable deaths due to blood loss. Tricol was initially focused on military first responders to help save lives on the battlefield in prehospital settings, and its patented technology (60 held, 20 pending patents) is widely accepted for trauma management and planned surgical procedures as well as applications for the dental dressing and consumer markets.

Tricol’s groundbreaking technology was the first to be based on an organic substance, chitin, which is sustainably extracted from shrimp shells and then undergoes Tricol’s proprietary deacetylation process, which transforms it into chitosan. Tricol’s unique formula/process of chitosan has been branded as Chito+™ and is the active agent in the company’s hospital and prehospital offerings.

Chito+ possesses a positive molecular charge that is the basis for chitosan’s medical uses. This strong positive charge attracts negatively charged red blood cells and platelets like a magnet, rapidly creating a tight clot, sealing the injury, and providing procedural bleeding control and rapid control of severe bleeding in trauma management. Chito+ has a unique set of properties. It is muco-adhesive in the presence of liquid (i.e., blood), works outside of the body’s natural clotting cascade, activates rapidly to control bleeding, and becomes an antibacterial barrier in the process.

Military medics have used the product on the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq to save people who have suffered severe injuries from IED explosions and gunshot wounds resulting in uncontrollable bleeding.

Surgeons now use the same technology to control bleeding while performing surgery in the operating room or in office-based labs for outpatient interventional procedures.

Tricol products are currently delivered in two forms: lyophilized chitosan bandages and chitosan-impregnated gauze. Products in the bandage family are primarily used for vascular interventional procedures, deep cuts, and lacerations. Many are cleared for use with patients on anticoagulants. The chitosan-impregnated family of gauze products comes in a variety of dimensions and is used in surgical procedures or for deep-penetrating traumatic wounds. Many of Tricol’s gauze products also contain a radio-opaque thread for easy X-ray detection post-procedure.

Tricol’s powerhouse scientific team is always innovating. Future offerings include products with controlled dissolution, meaning that they remain in the body long enough to control bleeding, after which they dissolve sufficiently to be excreted by the body. Applications of these products are being explored in urology for confidence in hemostasis after benign prostatic hyperplasia or BPH therapy. In GI bleeds caused by peptic ulcers, erosive esophagitis, or another source, use of a safe and immediately effective biomedical material to address bleeds is highly anticipated and preferred over traditional methods of clips, powders, bands, ligation, and cautery.

Tricol has more than 30 published articles proving that the technology is well accepted in acute care hospitals and military bases. Through rapid innovations in its products, Tricol Biomedical keeps saving lives, thereby improving trauma care and management standards to realize the company’s slogan that The Blood Stops Here®.