"please keep me updated about oximeters "
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Medical Monitoring Device Market Heating Up
a medical monitoring device company has obtained FDA approval and millions in financing from prestigious venture capital firm Sequoia Capital. note how they're gunning to do Sleep Apnea testing from home (i put that part in bold):
Airstrip Technologies, a mobile software company that specializes in remote patient monitoring, announced today it closed an undisclosed round of financing from venture firm Sequoia Capital.
Airstrip’s mobile applications let doctors monitor their patients’ vital signs and other data from anywhere. The San Antonio, Tex. company offers what it calls the OBSERVER Suite, which includes applications focused on cardiology, critical care, imaging and laboratory information. Its monitoring technology received Food and Drug Administration approval last month.
Airstrip is just one of a myriad of companies that are pushing toward a Star Trek-like future filled with gizmos designed to keep us safe remotely. For instance, Proteus is developing pills that can track medication compliance on the part of patients. Corventus is making bandages that can relay cardiac data in real time. Triage Wireless has developed a device that remotely monitors blood pressure without arm cuffs.
And companies like Zeo and NeuroVigil are developing patches that let doctors monitor patients’ brains from afar.
This type of mobility is expected to save hospitals and patients money. For example, in the future, people may no longer have to spend the night in a laboratory in order to determine whether they have sleep apnea, which affects 15 million Americans. Remote devices could be given to patients instead so that doctors can give a diagnosis from somewhere else in the world.
“We are honored to have the Sequoia name attached to our team as we work to raise the standard of care in patient monitoring both in the U.S. and globally.” said Cameron Powell, co-founder and president of AirStrip.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Judy on
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Yeah, well, our hospital has been going digital and to that end they've installed a new computer system so all medical records for, say a patient who goes into ER, are available to the doctors via 'puter. What I've seen of it so far is one h*ll of a paper-waster. A standard 3 month blood draw to monitor hepatic and pancreatic function for a particular medication a patient is on USED to print out in 2 pages. It now takes SEVEN (yeah, 7) printed out pages. The hospital should make a real MINT on medical records copies for attorneys, Medicare, etc. We can pick up a CD of any radiology imaging at no cost (wonder how soon THAT will change to there being a "fee"?). I wonder if a patient's medical records could be put on DVD by the hospital?? Two of the newest Endoscopy facilities tout their having the latest digital equipment - but they can still only provide still pictures of any areas of interest found by scope. There ARE facilities that can make a CD of the ENTIRE procedure - but these two new facilities w/the "latest digital equipment" don't have that capability.
Right now I'm wearing a 30 day Event Monitor (glorified Holter monitor) that wirelessly transmits what I believe are 30 minute "loops" of cardiac activity to a remote location in TX. If I recognize an "event" I am to push a button on the monitor. It backs up a specified length of time and transmits that data plus forward a specified length of time to the TX facility. Someone there calls and asks what I'm doing at the time I recognized an "event" and pushed the button. Shortly thereafter the results are transmitted to a local cardiologist and the cardiologist then calls me. OR, the remote facility can call me and instruct me on sending date to them via the land line telephone. I think we can also do that via a cell phone. Only two leads are placed, one just below the breastbone on the right and one just above the bottom of the ribs on the left. The monitor itself is somewhat larger than a pack of cigarettes and somewhat smaller than a paperback book and lightweight. It even has an LCD screen on it. Not that the LCD screen tells the patient much other than that it is working or the cable is unplugged (it screeches like sending a FAX if that happens and won't stop until the cable is plugged back in). When you shower you remove the two wires from the patches and then unplug the cable from the monitor and then the monitor just "sleeps" until you put the wires back on the patches and plug the cable back in.
I like the technology they are coming up w/to administer injectable medications via a skin patch instead. And vaccines via skin patch instead of injection. And more and more oral medications are being modified to be administered via a skin patch as well.
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Permalink Reply by Mary Z on
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I'm all for technology, and I think this type of technology is the wave of the future. It may take a while to trickle down to those of us without progressive docs and facilities available. I acknowledge the problems Judy points out. I don't know how long her special holter monitor has been on the market, but it sounds pretty thorough plus not too much of a pain to wear. Many physicians no longer see patients in the hospital- turning those patients over to a special service. I envision specialists educated to use this new remote monitoring technology and doing it exclusively from a central location. Anything that gets more people assessed and diagnosed with any type of illness is a plus imho.
On a tangent, I talked to a Mercedes dealer about their new technology that stops your car should you get too close to the car in front of you. It also has a steering wheel that vibrates if you start to weave across the road or start to go off the road. The stopping technology involves setting how far behind the car in front of you is acceptable. At first I thought (I was in another room and heard an ad on TV) this would be a warning about sleep apnea, but no such luck. They should include that warning- that this new technology is no substitute for medical advice should falling asleep at the wheel happen more than once in a blue moon. Maybe in the small print if we're lucky. LOL. Maybe a letter to the editor, or the medical column in the paper to draw attention to sleep apnea is warranted. Not shopping for, or recommending in any way the Mercedes Brand.
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Man, MaryZ, I "ain't" got money enough to even get NEAR a Mercedes, much less a Mercedes dealer!!!! *sigh*
And, yup, jnk, you remember reading right - there's been quite a bit of discussion about PSGs being sent overseas, mostly to India, for scoring but I don't think it was by sleep DOCTORS. I seem to remember the PSG data was sent overseas and SOMEONE, supposedly as I remember it, PSGTs, scoring and sending scored results back to local sleep lab for sleep doctor dictation. Its a choice made by the sleep lab for cheaper scoring of their in-lab PSGs.
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Ain't that the truth, tho, jnk? But I don't think that fits Medicare guidelines for reimbursement. *sigh*
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Permalink Reply by 99 on
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technology is wonderful when it is working properly as for the scoring there should be two scorers to eliminate mistakes
that is how catulogue companies do it they have two diffrent people to fill the orders and if one is diffrent it is sent back to recheck the results
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Well, in the US, at least, an RPSGT scores the raw data. And then SUPPOSEDLY an accredited sleep doctor scores it himself as well. In practice, a good share, if not most, of our sleep specialists just scan thru it and initial the RPSGT's scoring. So many of them are just phony prima donnas who climbed on the sleep medicine "cash cow" bandwagon 'cause it can be an easy speciality w/little to no contact w/the patients. They can bill a hefty "office call" just for initialing the PSG scoring and dictating the results to send to the referring doctor.
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Permalink Reply by Rooster on
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Well Judy, it seems the sleep doctors you describe probably go to the same barber that dentist uses. :)
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that has some merit as barbers were the forerunners of surgery, remember the flag pole, that pole was white and the blooded bandages were wrapped around and you have the red and white pole
Dentist came from mechanics so you see the progression is mechanic, dentist and then surgoun and the rest is history
Rooster said:Well Judy, it seems the sleep doctors you describe probably go to the same barber that dentist uses. :)
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