Noninvasive Hgb Tool from Masimo Market Ready
Another technology for noninvasive measurement of hemoglobin designed and manufactured by Masimo received marketing clearance from the Food and Drug Administration. The new approach to assessment will be incorporated into the company’s upgradeable Rainbow SET platform.
Continuous assessment of hemoglobin levels is most critical for the inpatient settings, such as the trauma department, intensive care unit, and operating room. In these arenas, blood loss is more commonplace. The new Masimo technology can assist in the maintenance of appropriate hemoglobin levels in all patients, which is most critical in those who are acutely ill.
The technology allows continuous, noninvasive total monitoring of hemoglobin (SpHb). Availability of this simple monitoring approach fosters measurement in a wider variety of settings, particularly the outpatient clinic. In that arena, ongoing monitoring is not plausible. In this setting, the technology can aid in the management of patients with chronic anemia as well as patients undergoing dialysis.
The availability of a tool that can evaluate a patient’s hemoglobin supports management of blood products and timing of transfusions. This can also prevent misuse of the very limited blood supply and reduce overall treatment costs by better managing a patient’s condition.
Recent data published by the Cochrane Collaboration indicates that blood transfusion safety can be increased by developing appropriate thresholds for delivery of blood products. The group examined data from ten different trials with outcomes on more than 1,750 patients. The group concluded that restrictive guidelines for transfusion produced a reduction in the rate of blood replacement by more than 40 percent. As well, restrictive protocols were associated with reduced duration in the ICU and overall hospital stay, as well as a 20 percent decrease in mortality.
This noninvasive tool is an attractive alternative to the standard approaches to assess hemoglobin, which requires a blood draw. Conventional approaches only deliver delayed findings as specimens are examined in the laboratory and continuous data is not available. Ongoing hemoglobin assessment would require multiple blood draws and can become costly.
May 19, 2008 Related topics: Product Approval & Certification, Monitoring, Diagnostic