Masimo announces new Patient Safety Net System that
together with Masimo SET's unmatched sensitivity and specificity will
help hospitals comply with the ASA guidelines
Irvine, California, August 24, 2006 - The American
Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) recently adopted practice guidelines
for the perioperative management of patients with obstructive sleep
apnea (OSA) to reduce the risk of adverse outcomes in patients with OSA
who receive sedation, analgesia or anesthesia. OSA is a syndrome
characterized by periodic, partial, or complete obstruction of the
upper airway during sleep. It is well known that even patients
without a history of OSA can develop OSA during perioperative
phases. OSA patients are especially vulnerable during the
postoperative period because protective arousal reflexes are diminished
due to the effects of anesthesia and opioid analgesia. The ASA
guidelines recommend preoperative screening of all surgical patients
for OSA followed by a postoperative protocol of continuous pulse
oximetry monitoring until the patient is no longer at risk.
Masimo, the inventor and pioneer of Read-Through Motion and Low
Perfusion Pulse Oximetry, has recently introduced the RadNet Patient
Safety Net System to help clinicians monitor their patients
continuously and remotely. RadNet provides surveillance for up to
28 patients by either hardwired or wireless connectivity from point of
care monitors to a base monitoring station. RadNet is an easy to
install, easy to use system that is scaleable based on a specific
hospital's needs.
The key to the success of the RadNet system is Masimo SET pulse
oximetry technology, proven through more than 80 independent and
objective published clinical studies to be the most reliable and
accurate pulse oximeter during challenging conditions such as patient
motion, low perfusion and bright lights, which can confuse other pulse
oximetry technologies. Masimo's patented technology has been
proven to dramatically reduce false alarms and improve detection of
true alarms, especially in the challenging conditions, such as those
encountered in monitoring ambulatory patients in the general care
areas.
Steve Moreau, CEO of San Antonio Hospital stated, "High quality
patient care and cost savings go hand in hand. When clinicians
detect problems early, lives can be saved, patients will recover sooner
and health care costs are lowered. Rapid Response Teams have been
created to react more quickly to adverse events, but their success is
dependent upon reliable and continuous monitoring of patients at risk.
Technology solutions such as Masimo SET and RadNet play a critically
important role in providing an early warning system for the clinicians
providing care at the bedside."
Joe E. Kiani, CEO and Chairman of Masimo stated, "We applaud the ASA
for recognizing the need to better care for patients post operatively
and we are proud that we have created the tools to help make these
recommendations realizable. Masimo SET has clearly been proven as
the most reliable pulse oximeter in the world, especially in the
presence of patient motion and low perfusion. We developed Signal
Extraction Technology to allow patients to be monitored reliably in the
general floor. In fact, since our founding in 1989, our mission
has been Improving Patient Outcomes and Reducing Cost of Care by Taking
Noninvasive Monitoring to New Sites and Applications. We are
delighted that our mission is consistent with the healthcare
community's goals of reducing unnecessary morbidity and mortality."
Recent data suggests that the prevalence of OSA may be much greater
than previously thought. A recently published study performed at
Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis screened 1,898 surgical patients
over four months and found that over 19% of those patients had OSA.
These guidelines add to a significant existing challenge that
hospitals have been coping with to better care for recovering patients
after being transferred out of the intensive care units (ICU) in order
to reduce the incidence of unexpected adverse patients events, often
referred to as "sentinel events". This task is made difficult due
to the fact that, in most cases, the ICUs are the only areas equipped
to provide this level of postoperative care. Not only is there a
lack of monitoring outside of the ICUs, but there are also far fewer
nurses per patient. So, even if the hospital can put pulse
oximeters on all of these patients, there may not be enough nurses to
react to the alarms. Making this challenge even more difficult is
the fact that most of the existing pulse oximeters are prone to
excessive false alarms and missed true events. In a recently
completed study that will be presented at the ASA's annual conference
this October, the newest pulse oximeters from two of the largest
manufacturers had false alarm rates of 17-28% and missed events
incidence of 42-82%, while Masimo SET's false alarm rate and incidences
of missed events was nearly an order of magnitude lower.
Along with RadNet, Masimo is introducing PPO+, a wireless, wearable
Masimo SET pulse oximeter with optional ECG, which will allow patients
that are ambulating to have their oxygen saturation, pulse rate and ECG
continuously monitored via RadNet wirelessly. There are currently
a variety of point of care devices that are compatible with
RadNet. Masimo is planning to unveil new Masimo SET and Masimo
Rainbow SET enabled monitors to further serve the growing needs of care
providers, especially those in the general ward.
About Masimo
Masimo develops innovative
monitoring technologies that significantly improve patient care-
helping solve "unsolvable" problems. In 1995, the company debuted
Read-Through Motion and Low Perfusion pulse oximetry, known as SET, and
with it virtually eliminated false alarms and increased pulse
oximetry's ability to detect life-threatening events. Over 80
independent clinical studies have confirmed that Masimo SET technology
allows clinicians to accurately monitor blood oxygen saturation in
critical care situations. In 2005 Masimo introduced Rainbow SET
and with it, Pulse CO-Oximetry, which, for the first time,
noninvasively monitors the level of carbon monoxide and methemoglobin
in the blood, allowing early detection and treatment of potentially
life-threatening conditions.
Masimo,
founded in 1989, has the mission of "Improving Patient Outcome and
Reducing Cost of Care by Taking Noninvasive Monitoring to New Sites and
Applications." Additional information about Masimo and its products may
be found at www.masimo.com
Masimo,
SET, Signal Extraction Technology and Improving Patient Outcomes and
Reducing Cost of Care by Taking Noninvasive Monitoring to New Sites and
Applications are registered trademarks of Masimo Corporation.
RadNet, Patient Safety Net System and PPO+ are trademarks of
Masimo Corporation. Rainbow and Pulse CO-Oximetry are
trademarks of Masimo Labs.
Contact: Tom
McCall
949-297-7075
tmccall@masimo.com