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Brief
History of the Anders Oxygen Therapy Products and the Topical
Hyperbaric Lower Leg Extremity Chamber
The Anders Corporation was founded in 1950 by Frank Avery
Jr. as a manufacturer of plastic products including medical
disposables. The company was aptly named "Anders",
which means "something different" in German. One
of the early products was an oxygen canopy, which was used
for the treatment of a variety of pulmonary diseases including
heart attacks. Distributed through Medico Hospital Supply,
the first heart attack of then President Dwight D. Eisenhower
was treated with an Anders Oxygen Tent.
In 1994, the late Phil Loori of Wound Care Systems contacted
Anders to manufacture a sacral oxygen therapy wound closure
device. This method of therapy was invented by Boguslav Fischer,
M.D. and is first described in "Topical Hyperbaric Oxygen
Treatment of Pressure Sores and Skin Ulcers", Lancet August
23, 1969 (1). Over the years we have manufactured thousands
of these disposables. Later, Dr. Fischer went on to invent
the lower leg hyperbaric treatment chamber which is described
in the Journal of Dermatological Surgery (2). In 1998 Anders
redesigned this chamber and the associated control box for
Phil. This system has remained in production ever since.
Frank Avery, Jr. The founder of the Anders
Corporation
Medical
Implications of Topical Hyperbaric Treatment
As reported by Dr. Fischer, the results of both the sacral
unit and leg chamber were dramatic although the exact nature
of the treatment success was not understood. In order to get
the pressure level of the portable chamber closer to that
of full-body hyperbaric treatment, pulsating therapy was developed
in the late 1970's. This is described in U.S. Patents 5,060,644
and 4,236,513. Although the pulsating therapy was developed
to eliminate the "tourniquet effect" of the leg seal, the
positive pressure pulsation was also found to further improve
wound closure. Years later the same effect, this time utilizing
negative pressure, is the cornerstone of the widely successful
Vacuum Assisted Closure (VAC) system sold by KCI.
Despite the anecdotal evidence that this treatment method
works, scientists have remained curious as to how hyperbaric
oxygen promotes wound healing. Recent research has demonstrated
that hyperbaric oxygen treatment can stimulate angiogenesis.
Specifically, VEGF, the main angiogenic regulator, up-regulated
mRNA and protein levels by hyperbaric oxygen (3). While it
has been long understood that the oxygen molecule plays a
central role in the reparative process of wound healing, its
ability to act as an angiogenic regulator along with its ability
to stimulate collagen synthesis which important in the wound
healing process has also been demonstrated (4). In conclusion
it is evident that topical oxygen can oxygenate wound tissue
and since regeneration of new tissues occurs on the surface,
topical hyperbaric oxygen to open wounds provides the benefits
of oxygen without the risks presented by whole body treatment
for systemic toxicity (5)(6). In addition the pulsating therapy
further enhances healing. The entire healing system is lightweight
and portable such that therapy can be performed in any acute
or sub-acute care setting. Thus for lower extremity wounds
at risk for amputation, the topical hyperbaric oxygen extremity
chamber is the clear choice.
References:
1) "Topical Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment of Pressure Sores
and Skin Ulcers", Fischer, B., Lancet, August 23, 1969
2) "Treatment of Ulcers on the Legs with Hyperbaric Oxygen",
Fischer, B, J. of Derm. Surg. 1:3, October 1975
3) "Hyperbaric oxygen induces VEGF expression through ERK,
JNK and c-Jun/AP-1 activation in human umbilical vein endothelial
cells", Chun-Chung Lee et al, J. of Biomed, Sci., (2006) 13:143-156.
4) "Effect of hyperbaric oxygen on pro-collagen on messenger
RNA level and collagen synthesis in healing of rat tendon
laceration". Ishii Y., et al Tissue Eng. 5:279-386, 1999.
5) "Genotoxicy of hyperbaric oxygen", G. Speit, et al Mut.
Res. 512(2002) 161-167, N.
6) "Central nervous system oxygen toxicity during routine
hyperbaric oxygen therapy", Hampson, D. Atik, Undersea Hyperb.
Med. 30(2003) 147-153 {content}
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