The Beginning

The idea of Numotech was the brainchild of Dr. Joseph Navach, an Orthopedic Surgeon with a large medical practice in the San Fernando Valley, just north of Los Angeles.  Dr. Navach had an inquiring and creative mind and in the 1980s he began visiting the Sepulveda Veterans Administration Hospital after his regular workday.  He found like minds there, particularly in the Spinal Cord Injury unit.  Several people were very actively engaged improving the lives of paraplegics and quadriplegics. 

Dr. Navach volunteered his time and donated funds for clinical studies and developing products to improve the lives of the spinal cord injury patients.  He spearheaded the development of several products including the Generic Total Contact Seat (GTCS) for wheelchair users.  Pressure sores are a leading cause of death for wheelchair users and this seat was designed and clinically validated to prevent pressure sores.  Read more about the GTCS and see more pictures here. 

Dr. Navach was also instrumental in developing the Back Support System.

Wound Care and the Numobag®

Another person concerned with the problem of pressure sores was Dr. Madalene Heng, Professor, UCLA School of Medicine, and Chief of Dermatology at the UCLA-San Fernando Valley Medicine Program.  Dr. Heng invented the Numobag® and the technique of applying low pressure, medical grade oxygen, Topical Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (THOT®), for re-vascularizing gangrenous and diabetic ulcers. 

For several years, the Numobag® Kit patients were inpatient and outpatient veterans at the Sepulveda VA.  Many patients were spinal cord injury patients with large pressure ulcers and diabetic patients with foot ulcers, but Dr. Heng treated patients with all types of hard-to-heal wounds including burns, venous stasis ulcers, skin grafts, post-surgical infections, and gangrenous lesions.  During this period, Dr. Heng and her colleagues conducted clinical trials and developed the Numobag® wound-healing protocols.  Dr. Heng is the lead author on many publications reporting her research and cases with THOT® from 1983 to 2019.  

The Numobag® is a patented Class II medical device.  It is a thin, transparent, extremely clean (but not sterile), disposable polyethylene membrane bag that covers the legs and approximately 75 percent of the human torso as shown above. 

The Numobag® is packaged in a kit which includes all the supplies necessary for one THOT® treatment when used with medical-grade oxygen. 

Sandia National Laboratories Collaboration

In June 1998, Numotech enlisted the assistance of Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) in Albuquerque NM to make the Numobag® more suitable for home use.  Specifically, Numotech signed a $5.76 million Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with SNL to develop inexpensive sensors and lightweight pumps to simplify operation of the Numobag®.  This was the first of several cooperative agreements with SNL.

During the 1990s, Numotech’s most effective spokesperson was Bill “Willie” Shoemaker, at the time the winningest jockey in US history.  Mr. Shoemaker suffered a severe spinal injury in an auto accident in 1991 and became a quadriplegic.  As is common for many wheelchair-bound patients, he developed pressure ulcers on his feet.  Mr. Shoemaker’s wounds were healed sufficiently within a week and he was able to return to the track to resume his job as a trainer.  Thereafter he was an enthusiastic Numobag® Kit supporter and appeared in some of the Numotech-SNL videos.

911

On September 11, 2001, Numotech responded to requests from some New York area physicians who had used the Numobag® Kit during their training in California. These physicians were treating burn victims from the 911 World Trade Center terrorist attacks. Because of the urgency of the situation, NASA scheduled a jet to transport the Numobag® Kits to the East Coast.  However, due to the air traffic ban, the 1,000 Numobag® Kits were delivered by more conventional means.  This effort was coordinated by Senator Hilary Clinton’s office, NASA, and FEMA.  The Numobag® Kits were used to treat burn victims quickly and with minimal scarring. In October 2004, the Numobag® Kit was approved by the Department of Homeland Security as a First Responder Medical Device. The Numobag® Kit can be stockpiled for emergencies for 5 years without maintenance or surveillance. 

In October 2004, the Numobag® Kit was approved by the Department of Homeland Security as a First Responder Medical Device.  The Numobag® Kit can be stockpiled for emergencies for 5 years without maintenance or surveillance. 

International Business

Numotech entered the international business arena in 2008 using the Numobag® Kit to treat a Royal Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Royal Family.  The patient was scheduled for leg amputation due to diabetic ulcers.  After successful treatment of the patient, one of Numotech’s founders traveled to KSA and conducted many Numobag® Kit training sessions in military and civilian hospitals.  Many patients with many types of wounds were successfully treated with the Numobag® Kit.  The Numobag® was approved as a treatment modality by the Saudi Food & Drug Authority (SFDA) in 2009.

On June 3, 2011, the Yemen leader Ali Abdullah Saleh sustained burns over 40% of his body during a bomb attack at his presidential palace in Sana’a.  He was flown to Saudi Arabia and treated with the Numobag® by physicians who already had experience using the Numobag® Kit.   On July 10, 2011 the Yemen Presidency released the following picture of Ali Abdullah Saleh.  Numobag® treatments continued and later photos show ungloved hands with minimal scarring. 

The Numobag® Kit has been utilized in other cases outside the U.S.  Examples include healing a Philippine soldier’s gunshot wound and a motor scooter rider’s leg injury in Thailand.  In these cases, caregivers were instructed in the use of the Numobag® via telephone. 

Military and Firefighters

In 2012 the US Army and Navy began requesting the Numobag® Kit to treat both acute and chronic combat wounds.  In 2015 hospitals began using the Numobag® Kit to treat firefighters injured in wildfires in the western and southwestern U.S. 

At the present time, the Numobag® Kit continues to be used to heal many types of wounds.