Datascope Corp. of Montvale, New Jersey is announcing FDA approval of its wireless single lead EKG monitoring device. To be put on the market next month, Datascope developed the NetGuard™ to be a cheap Holter-like monitor, easily deployable in hospitals. Using basic PC’s and existing technologies, monitors like this may become standard for anyone occupying a bed in a hospital.
The heart of NetGuard is a very small wireless EKG monitor, weighing less than an ounce. The monitor communicates with a standard personal computer (PC) at a nurse’s station, which gives an alert and an EKG display when a dangerous rhythm is detected. A nurse typically would confirm the alert and call an emergency “code” in accordance with hospital protocol. One PC has the capacity to cover 50 patients. The system architecture of NetGuard provides for total coverage of a hospital.
The NetGuard system is also economical. The cost of the wireless system components, including the reusable portion of the EKG monitor, is a fraction of the cost of conventional monitors. The single-use component of the monitor, including batteries, electrode and adhesive pad are packaged together in a detachable unit that mates neatly with the reusable electronic unit. The batteries in the NetGuard monitor last three days — three times longer than conventional telemeters. Cost of the single-use component has not yet been established but will be affordable based on Datascope’s market research.
Press release: Datascope Aims to Create New Growth Market in Patient Monitoring …
No product page yet on Datascope website…
