Archive for March, 2011

VitalPoint RPM Offers More Flexibility for Patients with Chronic Diseases

According to the CDCP (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), 80 percent of senior citizens in America are living with at least one chronic disease. A chronic disease is described as a condition that is incurable, recurrent and long-lasting. With a growing elderly population, medical equipment developers are always looking to streamline the technology used to monitor their conditions. For example, it is no longer necessary for seniors to make a trip to the doctor’s office to have their vital signs checked. In most cases, remote patient monitoring (RPM) is just as effective.

One such RPM monitor, known as VitalPoint, is able to monitor patient symptoms and aid in the treatment of chronic illnesses while slowing their progression. Launched last October, the CJPS Medical Systems’ VitalPoint device weighs only 4 pounds and it provides a patient with direct communication with their doctor or caregiver while generating data that is added to their electronic medical records. Even patients with limited computer knowledge find the user-friendly touch screen on this device easy to use. It is ideal for patients who suffer from chronic diseases like hypertension, COPD, kidney disease or diabetes. In addition to providing caregivers with key data on their current condition, the monitor will also send patients instructions, reminders and important questions from their caregiver.

The VitalPoint patient monitor is able to check blood pressure, pulse rate, blood oxygen levels, glucose levels, weight, and fluid status and EKG medical equipment data, among other things, without the need for the patient to leave home. It works through the Internet via a high-speed connection, which means it can automatically download updated versions of its own software without user intervention. According to the CJPS Medical Systems web site, this innovative “H2O Connectivity” device is designed to lower the cost of healthcare.

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What is a “Smart Room” and How Does it Help Medical Equipment “Communicate”?

With all the advancements in telemedicine and medical equipment technology, many doctors are wondering if their jobs will soon be obsolete. But for now, the impact of RFID, or radio frequency identification, promises to make their jobs a lot easier while improving patient safety. As demonstrated at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) annual conference, the Hospital Smart Room is a key development that will soon integrate medical equipment technology and catch potential problems in real time.

By integrating the data that is collected from patients, medical staff, diagnostic equipment and pharmaceuticals into one “master” system and displaying it on large flat panel monitors, smart room technicians can use this information to enhance patient safety. When a hospital’s medical equipment and other devices use RFID tags, the data they collect can be captured and centrally analyzed in a hospital’s Smart Room. Even hospital staff members wear RFID badges, so it is easy to see when they enter a patient’s room. The system is even alerted when a staff member does not stop at the RFID-equipped “hand sanitation station”.

Every activity, even the amount of medicine pumping through an IV tube, can be monitored in an RFID-equipped hospital. In order to comply with the proper communications protocol, medical professionals are expected to acknowledge patient-related voicemail via text message and communicate with one another in a “trackable” format. In order for drugs to be dispensed from the hospital pharmacy, the nurse must first swipe the patient’s bar-coded wristband and then the drug itself. Not only does this prevent drug misuse by doctors and nurses, it also ensures that the right drug is going to the right patient.

It may be awhile before every hospital makes the complete transition, but most healthcare facilities are using some form of RFID technology already. The broad adoption of RFID Smart Room technology may seem a little too “Orwellian” to some doctors, but hospital administrators love the new levels of safety and efficiency it brings.

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Invasion of the Telemedicine Robots is Good News for Stroke Patients

It isn’t often that small hospitals get to experiment with the latest medical equipment technology, but the Ocean Beach Hospital in Portland is testing a new way to diagnose and treat stroke victims using video conferencing technology. At their Providence Stroke Center in Ilwaco, a “health robot” is generating quite a following as it communicates with stroke victims throughout the region.

Created by telemedicine provider InTouch Health, the “robot” cannot actually think for itself, but the six-foot tall device can speak, move around, and turn its monitor “head” via remote control. While it isn’t necessary to house this technology within a robot, the presence of the device is a great way for hospitals to promote their telemedicine capabilities. In this case, these capabilities are specifically designed for stroke victims who need immediate care.

Any condition that disrupts normal blood flow to part of the brain is extremely time sensitive, so the most important feature of this machine is its ability to connect doctors and patients who are experiencing possible stroke symptoms, but this robot does more than that. It also has a stethoscope and the ability to display EKG medical equipment results, CT scans, or any other critical data that can help doctors with diagnosis.

The most common usage of this device will be communications between one hospital and another. Because the robot can be wheeled to a patient’s bedside, both the doctor and the patient at Ilwaco’s Ocean Beach Hospital can speak with a specialist from the Providence Portland health system. In a format similar to video conferencing, other critical patient data such as test results can also be analyzed in real time via this device.
Some may ask why this hospital in the Pacific Northwest was chosen as a test area for stroke-victim telemedicine, but according to the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention, Oregon has one of the highest stroke rates in the country. Until recently, the “stroke belt” was centered around the southeastern states, but it now includes Washington and Oregon as well.

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Medtronic Begins Clinical Trials in the US for New CoreValve System

In a recent US-based clinical trial, Medtronic has introduced a breakthrough in cardiac medical devices – the first transcatheter aortic valve implantation, or TAVI, also known as the CoreValve System. It is designed to replace the function of a non-functioning or diseased aortic valve without the need for open-heart surgery. By inserting the CoreValve system through the skin and directly into the femoral artery, the device uses a “controlled and accurate deployment” that is made with their trademarked Accutrak medical equipment technology. Using a Self-expanding Nitinol structure, or frame, and the company’s stability layer, the CoreValve system is strong enough to replace a patient’s aortic heart valve without the need for surgery or removal of the native valve.

Medtronic’s CoreValve system will be evaluated in two separate clinical trials each aimed at patients who are considered “high risk” or “extreme risk” for aortic valve surgeries. More than 1,200 patients will participate in this pivotal study at up to 40 different sites throughout the U.S.

Representatives from Medtronic are excited to introduce this transformative medical equipment as a way to help US patients with inoperable yet life-threatening aortic valve disease. The company has already received a CE Mark in Europe and the procedure has been done in 34 countries for more than 10,000 patients. Most of the patients who get the CoreValve procedure experience immediate relief from their symptoms, and many have also experienced measurable improvements in their quality of life.

Medtronic executives expect the US trial to be a success, and to gain FDA approval shortly thereafter to distribute the CoreValve System in the United States.

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