Philips received FDA approval and is bringing to U.S. market the Ingenia 3 Tesla MRI. The system is the first MRI to feature digital signal acquisition right at the coil, avoiding the noise that’s typically introduced when transferring an analog signal to an outside unit for digitizing. Additionally, a 70cm bore and matching table can handle patients up to 550 pounds (250Kg).
Press release: Philips to take orders for the Ingenia MRI system in the United States…
Product page: Ingenia 3.0T…
Flashback: Philips Launches Ingenia Digital Broadband MRI
Emergency Medicine Archives
Philips Ingenia Digital Broadband MRI Coming to US
Masimo’s Noninvasive Sensor Found to be Effective for Detecting Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
Carbon monoxide poisoning can have an insidious presentation (often with flu-like symtpoms), and it is not always caused by smoke exposure – appliances, heaters, fireplaces, and internal-combustion engines can also produce this gas. Unfortunately, it is estimated that half of U.S. hospitals don’t have the equipment needed to do the blood COHb test. If Masimo has its druthers, every patient in the E.D. will be connected to its Rainbow SET of noninvasive sensors, which will show carboxyhemoglobin levels as well as hemoglobin, oxygen content, and a methemoglobin measurement, among others. A new study published in the latest journal Annals of Emergency Medicine shows that Masimo’s noninvasive carboxyhemoglobin (SpCO) measurement device is an “effective means for screening at-risk populations for CO poisoning” with “acceptable bias and precision” compared to invasive blood gas analysis. The study found that using a cut-off SpCO value of 6.6%, they reached a 94% sensitivity (ability to detect CO poisoning) and 77% specificity (ability to identify a lack of CO poisoning). As expected, levels were different between smokers and non-smokers.
Press release: New Published Study Finds Masimo Noninvasive SpCO Effective for Screening Emergency Department Patients for Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
Second Option Defibrillator Electrode Pads to Help Save More Lives
Rice University bioengineering students have developed a modified set of external defibrillator pads that can provide an additional option for cardioverting the heart. Three electrodes are embedded between two pads and a switch selects which path for the current to take. By following simple user instructions, bystanders can easily provide a second option that’s not available in current defibrillators. The system, which was created to transparently improve the efforts of untrained public responders, can be adapted to existing defibs.
The potential for their project was clear from the beginning. “We did some calculations that suggested we could save at least 13,000 lives per year,” Otto said. “Cardiac defibrillation is very time-sensitive. Thirty seconds can be the difference between life and death in a lot of situations. The time it takes to flip the switch is negligible compared with the time it takes to remove the pads, shave and prep a new area on the body, reapply the pads and administer another shock. And a layman might not even know to try a second position.”
SonixCAM Helps Document Ultrasound Exams
Ultrasonix (Richmond, British Columbia) has released an optional HD video camera for the company’s Sonix Ultrasound devices.
When performing ultrasound exams, clinicians operating the machine are well aware of where the transducer is.
Tube Touch Sharp With a Fully Passive Safety System Debuts in US
MedPro, a Lexington, Kentucky firm has partnered with Austrian Greiner Bio-One to make available the company’s VACUETTE PREMIUM Safety Needle System Tube Touch in the U.S.
The company claims this is the first blood collection device available in America that is completely passive, automatically hiding the needle without the clinician having to perform any additional tasks.
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Hitachi SCENARIA CT Gets Clearance in U.S.
Hitachi Medical has received FDA regulatory approval for the company’s SCENARIA 64 slice CT scanner. The unit features a 75cm bore, a lateral shifting table, and a number of radiation dose reducing technologies.
From the product page:
McGill University Researcher Creates the World’s First Intubation Robot
Dr. Thomas M. Hemmerling, a McGill University professor who also happens to be the creator of the McSleepy automated anesthesia system, has created another device to assist anesthesiologists in the operating room. The Kepler Intubation System, or KIS, is the world’s first intubation robot designed to facilitate the intubation procedure and reduce some complications associated with airway management.
The device consists of a robotically mounted video-laryngoscope that is controlled by a joystick to accurately and effortlessly insert an endotracheal tube used during general anesthesia.
SpectraShield Respirator Blocks Dust, Bacteria, Wins FDA Approval
The FDA has cleared Nexera Medical‘s (Richmond, British Columbia) SpectraShield 9500 surgical respirator, a face mask the outside of which has been shown to kill three types of bacteria (Streptococcus pyogenes, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and Haemophilus influenzae). The device is also a certified N95 respirator, blocking at least 95% of dust particles.
From the product page:
Cardiac Surgery / Critical Care / Emergency Medicine / Military Medicine / Surgery / Thoracic Surgery
PleuraFlow for Clearing Chest Tubes Wins Prestigious Design Award
PleuraFlow, a device we reported receiving FDA approval last December, won a 2011 Medical Design Excellence Award. The device from Bend, Oregon’s Clear Catheter Systems clears chest tubes of clogging material using a magnetic guidewire. Of note, the technology was designed with help from Carbon Design Group of Seattle, Washington.
The PleuraFlow is a novel chest tube clearance accessory developed to maintain chest tube patency after heart and lung surgery. Clogging of a chest tube with a clot in the setting of continued postoperative drainage can contribute to impaired patient outcomes and even death. Nurses often have to improvise to keep the tubes open by tapping, squeezing, and milking the tubes in an attempt to clear the clots in the post operative setting. This can be frustrating and time consuming and is not always successful. Chest tube clearance with the PleuraFlow is achieved by advancing the specially designed clearance member back and forth within the chest tube under sterile conditions, breaking down and pulling clots back out of the tube, thereby leaving the inner portion of the chest tube clear of any obstructing material.
