Zassi Medical Evolutions forms new company to develop electrical stimulation technology

Jan 13 2010

Zassi Medical Evolutions, a privately held organization that innovates, designs and develops high technology medical devices and software announced today that it has successfully spun out and formed a new company with Tucson, Arizona based Research Corporation Technologies (RCT) to pursue the continued development of a novel electrical stimulation technology for the gastrointestinal continence control market.  

The new company called Leto Medical, will employ an innovative electrical stimulation technology along with proprietary, single use disposables to restore continence control to individuals with colostomies for six to 12 hours per day during which time, they will not have to wear an ostomy pouch.  

A colostomy is created when an individual's colon and/or rectum is partially or completely removed or bypassed and the remaining healthy portion of the intestine is brought through the abdominal wall, forming what is referred to as a stoma. Ostomy surgery leaves the individual incontinent and primarily reliant on ostomy bags for waste management. Leto Medical's use of electrical stimulation technology to treat colostomy related incontinence, although unique, is following one of the fastest moving trends in the medical device industry today –  the use of electrical and neuro stimulation to treat a wide variety of chronic conditions.  Having been used in cardiac pacing for decades, electrical stimulation is now being clinically tested as a treatment for ailments such as chronic pain, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, gastroparesis and obesity.  

"The market for ostomy supplies is estimated at nearly $2 billion annually and growing at over 4% per annum, and we believe that this market of consumers is desperate for an elegant and more discrete alternative than having to wear bulky bags and/or belts 24 hours of the day," said Peter M. von Dyck, CEO of Zassi Medical Evolutions and a founding board member of Leto Medical.  "We are proud to have partnered with RCT on this important new application as they are a seasoned technology investment firm with a longstanding and successful track record of working and funding new promising technologies that can materially evolve the life sciences."  

Chris Martin of RCT states, "We are pleased to be a part of this disruptive, game-changing technology to improve the lives of individuals with colostomies and to be working with such a talented group of people."