Masimo Debuts New Rad-8(R) Pulse Oximeter to Largest Gathering of Sleep Specialists From Around the World at SLEEP 2009

June 9, 2009

New Features and Design Optimize Care and Process Efficiencies for Clinicians in both the Sleep Center and Homecare Environments

IRVINE, Calif., June 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Masimo (Nasdaq: MASI), the inventor of Pulse CO-Oximetry(TM) and Measure-Through Motion and Low-Perfusion pulse oximetry, announced today the debut of its new compact, lightweight Rad-8 pulse oximeter at SLEEP 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS), June 6-11, 2009 in Seattle, Washington. Newly redesigned with greater clinical efficiency in mind, the new Masimo Rad-8 has a streamlined look and a host of easy-to-use special features that enable sleep clinicians to more effectively and efficiently monitor, diagnose, and care for patients with sleep disorders.

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), more than 70 million Americans are affected by chronic sleep disorders. Sleep apnea is a very common yet serious sleep disorder where a person's breathing is uncontrollably and repeatedly interrupted during sleep, resulting in very brief or prolonged periods of oxygen deprivation. Serious problems can result from the oxygen deprivation of sleep apnea--including: heart disease, high blood pressure and learning/memory problems--and, if left untreated, sleep apnea can be life-threatening.(1)

Pulse oximetry is the standard method for assessing oxygenation in sleep testing and, as such, plays a critical role in treatment decisions, including whether to administer Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) therapy or perform surgery. Inaccurate pulse oximetry data can have serious implications because false pulse oximetry desaturations can lead to misdiagnosis and inappropriate treatment or surgery, while missed true desaturations can prevent correct diagnosis and potentially lifesaving treatment. The new Rad-8 combines the unmatched sensitivity and specificity of Masimo SET(R) Measure-Through Motion and Low-Perfusion pulse oximetry--clinically-proven to reduce false alarms by over 90% and increase capture of true desaturation events by 98%--with enhanced functionality to help clinicians better capture, analyze, and report vital oxygen saturation, pulse rate, and perfusion data for improved sleep disorder detection.

The superior fidelity of Masimo SET has been clinically-shown to outperform other pulse oximeters in the accurate identification and quantification of brief dips in oxygen saturation due to apneas and hypopneas--an important marker and measure of severity for Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) diagnosis and treatment. In fact, previous research conducted at Montreal Children's Hospital in Quebec found that using a Masimo pulse oximeter with very short averaging time was not only more accurate in detecting true desaturation events, including brief dips in oxygen saturation as well as larger ones, but could also "significantly reduce workload and improve reliability of desaturation detection" over other pulse oximeters. Study findings confirmed that Masimo detected 98.6% of true desaturations, while the N-395 detected only 45.3%, leading researchers to conclude that "the sensitivity and motion artifact rejection characteristics of the Nellcor N-395 oximeter are not adequate for a pediatric sleep laboratory setting."(2)

And, based on clinician input, Rad-8 now features an intuitive user-interface and easy menu navigation to save time and enable faster, easier set-up, and operation, while one-touch quick access buttons allow clinicians to engage special features in an instant. New user-selectable alarm settings make it quick and easy for clinicians to set and save configurations for specific patient monitoring needs and unique clinical applications. In addition, 72-hour trending, configurable Sleep and Home modes, and enhanced data collection/reporting compatibility make the new Rad-8 the ideal patient monitoring solution for sleep center, home, sub-acute, and transport applications.

(1) National Institutes of Health "Frontiers of Knowledge in Sleep and Sleep Disorders: Opportunities for Improving Health and Quality of Life." March 2004. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/about/ncsdr/research/research-a.htm

(2) Robert Brouillette, MD, Jacinthe Lavergne, RRT, Andra Leimanis, BSc, Gillian Nixon, MB ChB, FRACP, Sylvia Ladan, RRT, Christine McGregor, RRT. "Differences in Pulse Oximetry Technology can Affect Detection of Sleep-Disordered Breathing in Children." Anesth Analg 2002; 94: S47-S53.

About Masimo

Masimo (NASDAQ: MASI) develops innovative monitoring technologies that significantly improve patient care--helping solve "unsolvable" problems. In 1995, the company debuted Measure-Through Motion and Low-Perfusion pulse oximetry, known as Masimo SET(R), which virtually eliminated false alarms and increased pulse oximetry's ability to detect life-threatening events. More than 100 independent and objective studies demonstrate Masimo SET provides the most reliable SpO2 and pulse rate measurements even under the most challenging clinical conditions, including patient motion and low peripheral perfusion. In 2005, Masimo introduced Masimo Rainbow SET(R) Pulse CO-Oximetry(TM), a breakthrough noninvasive blood constituent monitoring platform that can measure many blood constituents that previously required invasive procedures. Masimo Rainbow SET continuously and noninvasively measures total hemoglobin (SpHb(TM)), oxygen content (SpOC(TM)), carboxyhemoglobin (SpCO(R)), methemoglobin (SpMet(R)), and PVI(TM), in addition to oxyhemoglobin (SpO2), pulse rate (PR), and perfusion index (PI), allowing early detection and treatment of potentially life-threatening conditions. Founded in 1989, Masimo has the mission of "Improving Patient Outcomes 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.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements as defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, in connection with the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations about future events affecting us and are subject to risks and uncertainties, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control and could cause our actual results to differ materially and adversely from those expressed in our forward-looking statements as a result of various risk factors, including, but not limited to: risks related to our belief that the commercial availability of the new Rad-8 will serve to increase adoption, market share and/or revenues for the company, risks that Masimo SET sensitivity and specificity performance will be duplicated in other studies and applications, risks related to our assumption that the new Rad-8 will enable clinicians to more effectively and efficiently monitor, diagnose, and care for patients with sleep disorders, as well as other factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter year ended April 4, 2009, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on May 6, 2009, which may be obtained for free at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in our forward-looking statements are reasonable, we do not know whether our expectations will prove correct. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing cautionary statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of today's date. We do not undertake any obligation to update, amend or clarify these forward-looking statements or the "Risk Factors" contained in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended April 4, 2009, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under the applicable securities laws.

Contact:
Dana Banks
Masimo Corporation
949-297-7348

Masimo, SET, Signal Extraction Technology, Improving Outcomes and Reducing Cost of Care by Taking Noninvasive Monitoring to New Sites and Applications, Rainbow, SpHb, SpOC, SpCO, SpMet, PVI, Radical-7, Rad-87, Rad-57, Rad-9, Rad-8, Rad-5, Pulse CO-Oximetry and Pulse CO-Oximeter are trademarks or registered trademarks of Masimo Corporation. Other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE Masimo

Web Site: http://www.masimo.com