Emergency Medicine Archives

Live Patient ECG’s from GE’s MUSE Cardiology on Your iOS Device

by Gene Ostrovsky on Apr 4, 2011 •

a80iyemx Live Patient ECGs from GEs MUSE Cardiology on Your iOS DeviceGetting called in to check on a patient while spending time with the family is a regular part of life for cardiologists. It’s also important for the patient to get a quick diagnosis of ECG readings, which is why GE Healthcare has partnered with Airstrip Technologies to link GE’s MUSE Cardiology Information System with Airstrip’s Cardiology app for iPhones and iPads. Using the system, physicians can look at live patient tracings whether they’re on a different hospital floor or playing softball with the kids.

Remote ECG measurements are challenging because changes as small as 0.5 millimeters can indicate the presence of a serious or emergency heart condition. AirStrip Cardiology’s high resolution can detect such small differences through completely interactive iPad or iPhone views. Unlike traditional remote diagnostics, zooming in on waveforms does not affect visual clarity. With AirStrip Cardiology, clinical information is available from 12- and 15-lead ECGs, supporting high precision levels. Clinicians can view current data and historical tests conducted up to one year ago, in ten-second increments.
Regardless of where remote cardiologists are when a critical decision is needed, they can leverage AirStrip Cardiology to quickly determine the best treatment paths for their patients. This may reduce the need to return to the hospital or access a computer connected to the hospital network. A remote cardiologist can now use AirStrip Cardiology to precisely measure ECG waveforms, helping on-site ED clinicians determine, for example, if a patient requires cath lab intervention.
Based on a GE Healthcare and AirStrip global alliance for in-hospital cardiac diagnostics, U.S. hospitals can now purchase AirStrip Cardiology through GE Healthcare. The technology directly links to the GE Healthcare MUSE Cardiology Information System, a central cardiac repository that facilitates ECG analysis, supporting informed clinical decisions.
A native application, AirStrip Cardiology is specifically designed for iPad and iPhone screens, functionality and mobile environments. Instead of clicking through each step with a mouse or keyboard, clinicians can use their fingers and touch to quickly zoom and switch between viewing formats.
In 2010, the FDA cleared the platform behind AirStrip Cardiology. This technology is HIPAA compliant and uses state-of-the-art security protocols and cloud computing to securely transmit information rather than allowing data to reside on the mobile device, thereby enhancing privacy protections.

Here’s a tutorial of AirStrip Cardiology:


Press release: Hospital Clinicians Can Now View Up-to-the-Moment ECG Data on iPads, iPhones
Product pages: GE MUSE Cardiology Information System; AirStrip Cardiology…

Anesthesiology / Critical Care / Emergency Medicine / Medicine / Pediatrics

MedeGrip to Make Work With Central Lines, Ampules, Other Devices Easier and Safer

by Gene Ostrovsky on Apr 4, 2011
MedeGrip to Make Work With Central Lines, Ampules, Other Devices Easier and Safer

Inserting central lines, breaking glass ampules, and many other daily tasks of a hospital nurse or an anesthesiologist can be brutal on the fingers, especially for older clinicians and those with arthritis. Matthew Ostroff, a PICC line nurse in New York, designed a simple but effective little device to help with removing Luer Loks from central lines and pin knots from peripheral IVs, as well as to make opening ampules safer.
The MedeGrip is made of foam and provides two opposing surfaces to make grabbing onto small, rigid components more effective. This is a big improvement on the popular, but somewhat dangerous, technique of using a hemostat to grab onto the wings of endcaps and other small plastic devices. Moreover, breaking open glass ampules is responsible for about a quarter of all sharps injuries in hospitals, and MedeGrip provides a considerably safer option over using gauze. It gives a nurse a tight grip on the ampule and provides protection to the hands, all while not covering the whole of the ampule so that you can see what you’re working on. Digging around the gauze to find missing glass pieces is also a thing of the past.

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Anesthesiology / Emergency Medicine / Military Medicine

CoPilot VL Video Laryngoscope to Challenge McGrath Dominance

by Gene Ostrovsky on Mar 30, 2011
CoPilot VL Video Laryngoscope to Challenge McGrath Dominance

Intubating a difficult airway, such as a trauma patient, or a patient with anterior larynx, or an individual who is status post radiation therapy to the neck, often presents a life and death challenge. To offer an alternative to the popular McGrath Series laryngoscopes, marketed by LMA, a couple nurse anesthetists decided to develop their own video device, the CoPilot VL that offers a few novel features, such as a patent-pending Bougie Port. According to Magaw LLC., the company making the device, disposable cover sheaths can be released with a push of a button and the video screen can stand on its own or be clamped to a pole for easy access. The $3,000 device should be available for purchase this summer, and you can get in line by filling out a pre-order form.
From the product page:

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Anesthesiology / Cardiac Surgery / Critical Care / Emergency Medicine / Medicine / Surgery / Vascular Surgery

Access Scientific POWERWAND Gets FDA Clearance

by Wouter Stomp on Mar 30, 2011
Access Scientific POWERWAND Gets FDA Clearance

Access Scientific, from San Diego, has received FDA clearance for its POWERWAND power-injectable vascular access cannula. As we reported before, the WAND cannulas can be used for central venous access, integrating everything necessary for a modified Seldinger technique into one device. The POWERWAND is purposed for extended-dwell and allows for power-injection of fluids or medication, but also for blood withdrawal.
CE mark has also recently been obtained and initial distribution will start in Britain, Australia and South Africa. Preliminary results of the first clinical trial with the device will be presented at the Infusion Nurses Society annual meeting in May 2011.

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Emergency Medicine / etc. / Public Health

Voice Analysis Software Detects Stress in People Calling for Ambulance

by Gene Ostrovsky on Mar 22, 2011
Voice Analysis Software Detects Stress in People Calling for Ambulance

Gizmag is reporting that a team of Dutch researchers from Delft University of Technology, Netherlands Defence Academy and TNO Defence, Security and Safety, have developed voice monitoring technology that may help with triaging emergency calls to overloaded first responders. The scientists believe that the level of stress detected in a voice is an indicator of the acuteness of the actual emergency and maybe even help decide whether to send out a Volkswagen Golf or a real ambulance. No word on the system’s ability to parse out hypochondriacs and hysterical mothers from the rest of the callers.

"Stress and negative emotions, in general, have a strong influence on voice characteristics," the researchers explain. "Because speech is a natural means of communication, we can utilise the sound patterns of speech to detect stress and (negative) emotions in a non-intrusive way by monitoring the communication." Factors such as how quickly a person is talking, whether or not there are rises and falls in pitch and tone and breathing rate, all change when we are stressed and can be detected.

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Emergency Medicine / Medicine / Orthopedic Surgery / Radiology / Surgery / Urology

Fujifilm Unveils New Portable FCR Go2 X-ray System

by Gene Ostrovsky on Mar 11, 2011
Fujifilm Unveils New Portable FCR Go2 X-ray System

Fujifilm has unveiled an upgraded version of its FCR Go portable digital X-ray system. The FCR Go2 now has a more powerful X-ray source and a larger workstation more comparable in size to stationary units.

Along with the same user-friendly features that led to the success of the FCR Go and provided high image quality and efficiency gains, Fujifilm’s FCR Go 2 is now equipped with a higher output X-ray generator to better accommodate imaging of dense areas. Abdomen and spine exams, for example, which are frequently performed with portable systems, as well as X-rays of bariatric patients, will now result in even sharper images.

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Cardiology / Emergency Medicine / Medicine / Neurological Surgery / Radiology / Surgery / Vascular Surgery

GE’s New Vascular Visualization Applications for Interventional Radiology

by Gene Ostrovsky on Mar 7, 2011
GE's New Vascular Visualization Applications for Interventional Radiology

Computer vision software is continuing to give new eyes to radiologists, improving their ability to spot critical structures on images. GE Healthcare has just unveiled two new applications for use in interventional procedures that point out vasculature near a liver tumor during embolizations and for Digital Subtraction Angiography (DSA) to better see the path of vascular flow.

FlightPlan for Liver is an easy-to-use, powerful application that helps the radiologist to plan and perform liver embolization. With FlightPlan, the success rate in detecting tumor-feeding vessels is 93 percent, as compared to 64 percent and 73 percent when using 2D and 3D review respectively.[2]

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Anesthesiology / Cardiology / Critical Care / Emergency Medicine / Medicine / Surgery / Thoracic Surgery / Vascular Surgery

InSpectra StO2 Tissue Oxygen Saturation Monitor Gets Cleared in US

by Gene Ostrovsky on Mar 7, 2011
InSpectra StO2 Tissue Oxygen Saturation Monitor Gets Cleared in US

Having received European clearance 3 months ago, Hutchinson Technology‘s InSpectra StO2 Spot Check (model 300) has now received FDA regulatory approval for determining tissue oxygenation in those experiencing circulatory distress. As we noted last time, the device allows direct measurement of oxygen saturation in microcirculation, where oxygen is exchanged with tissues, hence it could be used for evaluation of regional, maybe even systemic perfusion in critically ill, in septic shock, etc.

The InSpectra StO2 Spot Check (model 300) consists of a hand-held device, cable, reusable sensor, charging station and rechargeable battery. This product enables clinicians to quickly and cost-effectively identify at-risk patients. Once identified as having low StO2, patients can then be continuously monitored with the InSpectra(TM) StO2 Tissue Oxygenation Monitor (model 650). These two products help reduce the time to critical actions and identify the endpoints of resuscitation.

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Emergency Medicine / Medicine / Orthopedic Surgery / Radiology / Surgery

GE’s Optima MR360 and Brivo MR355 MRIs Get FDA OK

by Gene Ostrovsky on Mar 7, 2011
GE's Optima MR360 and Brivo MR355 MRIs Get FDA OK

GE Healthcare has received FDA clearance for two 1.5 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging systems, the Optima MR360 (top) and Brivo MR355 (bottom). GE is touting the smaller size of the machines, fitting in a space 20% smaller than other full body 1.5T scanners, and up to 1/3 lower energy expenditure than similar systems.

The Optima MR360 features an “Express Exam” concept to simplify operation, and help increase productivity and diagnostic confidence. The Express Exam combines user interface simplification features, embedded Express Coil technology, and a wide range of advanced clinical applications. The Express Coil provides the benefits of a single coil built into a fixed table to help reduce handling and provide consistent image quality by ensuring coil elements are as close to patient anatomy as possible.

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