Program Notes
Lumedx Corp. and Mennen Medical have entered into a strategic partnership to provide a total, integrated cath lab data solution and seamless stream of hemodynamic cardiovascular patient data.
The agreement is part of both companies’ desire to complement their individual product lines so that their mutual customers will enjoy a consolidated cath lab solution. Combining the CVIS and PACS software modalities of Lumedx with Mennen Medical’s full suite of hardware products for the cath lab, including its new hemodynamic system—the Horizon XVu—its patient monitoring and its EP recording systems into one integrated system will provide a unique market solution.
This partnership will help heart centers perform cath lab procedures using an efficient and flexible workflow and continuous clinical patient data from the holding area, throughout the procedure room and into the recovery room.
Mennen Medical’s new XVu System is embedded with an ultra modern interface and analysis system. Combined with user-friendly windows and an intuitive graphic interface, the system enables various layouts to suit both cardiac and peripheral angiography procedures. The small size of Mennen Medical’s front-end vital signs acquisition unit, the CFE, allows it to be rail-mounted on the procedure table for maximum space utilization and comfort.
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Stretcher
The Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth, Va., through the Fleet and Industrial Supply Center, Norfolk, Va., has indicated that it intends to acquire medical stretchers from Pedigo Products.
The Pedigo 750-W Stretcher has a 750-pound capacity and is designed to allow ease of transfer of patients, minimizing discomfort to patients and excessive lifting by hospital personnel. The stretcher is equipped with a quick release 02 tank holder, which is located under the stretcher. This location provides for easy access, which reduces staff bending (decreasing staff back injuries). Equipped with a monitor tray board, the stretcher can carry a premounted pulse oximetry monitor.
This acquisition is expected to be about $165,770.
Image Company Acquisition
Expanding its capabilities to deliver complete medical imaging and health care solutions, Canon USA Inc. has acquired Virtual Imaging Inc. of Deerfield Beach, Fla. Established in 1995, Virtual Imaging is a provider of diagnostic imaging solutions and a medical systems integrator.
“Canon and Virtual Imaging have had a long-standing partnership that has benefited both companies over the years. This acquisition will position Canon well for future growth in the medical imaging and health care marketplace,” said Joe Adachi, president and chief executive officer, Canon USA.
Virtual Imaging will play an integral role as Canon enters the medical fluoroscopic device market later this year with the introduction of a new portable flat panel DR system capable of both viewing dynamic and capturing static X-ray images.
Identifying Traumatic Brain Injuries
With awareness growing around the need for new ways to detect traumatic brain injuries, BrainScope Co. Inc. recently announced the completion of research on high school athletes with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) as part of an ongoing investigational study of its brain assessment device. This comes at a time when Congress seeks to accelerate the development of new treatments for neurological conditions with the recent neurotechnology bill, and the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury has issued a call for a uniform test for traumatic brain injury to be performed on all troops exposed to a blast or other violent event in wartime.
The company is continuing its research of mTBI in eight emergency departments nationwide with its data collection device. These brain function assessment tools under development are mobile, noninvasive, handheld wireless devices designed determine whether brain trauma has occurred and could potentially be used to identify troops with traumatic brain injuries.
With its capabilities designed to meet the need for first-on-scene assessments of brain function—in an ambulance, emergency department, the sports field or battlefield— BrainScope’s device focuses on the detection of traumatic brain injury. This new generation of technology in development will operate as a digital translator of electrical brain activity, allowing medical professionals to quickly obtain adjunct clinical information based on a quantitative assessment of a patient’s need for further diagnostic evaluation and appropriate treatment.
“Clinical trials of BrainScope’s brain function assessment devices are under clinical study to assess their capability to perform,” said CEO Michael Singer. The company is researching advances in digital instrumentation by investigating brain electrical activity to enable rapid automated analysis of abnormalities in brain function. ♦