Researchers suggest that a new,
lower cost, noninvasive device that accurately measures carbon monoxide
in the blood may be the solution
Irvine, California,
July 11, 2006 - A recent study published in The Journal of Emergency Medicine
titled "Carboxyhemoglobin Measurement by Hospitals: Implications for
the Diagnosis of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning", examined the capability
for diagnosing carbon monoxide poisoning at 204 acute care hospitals in
the Pacific Northwest, concluding that only 44% of the hospitals had
the necessary equipment on site to measure carbon monoxide levels in
the blood. For the hospitals that did not have the testing
equipment, the average time to receive results of a blood sample sent
to another facility was over 15 hours.
The study states that carbon monoxide poisoning is common in the
U.S. with over 40,000 emergency room visits annually for diagnosed
cases. The authors also suggested that it is likely that there
are many more undetected cases due to the fact that the symptoms for
carbon monoxide poisoning are not obvious and often attributed to other
causes. The authors stressed the importance of rapid diagnosis to speed
treatment in order to prevent permanent brain injury.
Until recently, the only way to accurately measure the level of
carbon monoxide in blood was through a test called CO-oximetry, which
requires a blood sample to be taken and run through a laboratory
CO-oximeter. The authors in this study found that, if the
hospital had a CO-oximeter on site, it took, on average, 10 minutes to
perform the test, but if the hospital had to send the sample offsite,
it took over 15 hours, on average.
The lead researcher and author of the study, Neil B. Hampson, MD,
stated, "There is a new noninvasive pulse CO-oximeter now available
from Masimo Corporation that might help this situation. With the
relatively high price of an invasive CO-oximeter, I would presume that
the lack of availability is usually due to cost of the
instrument. Given that the Masimo device is priced significantly
lower, more hospitals should be able to afford them. In addition,
if the test can be done in seconds, without taking a blood sample, I
would expect many more cases of carbon monoxide poisoning to be
detected. This could reduce morbidity due to carbon monoxide
poisoning."
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 70
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 and Reducing Cost of Care by Taking Noninvasive Monitoring to
New Sites and Applications are registered trademarks of Masimo Corp.
Rainbow and Pulse CO-Oximetry are trademarks of Masimo Labs.
Contact:
Brad Langdale
949-297-7009
blangdale@masimo.com